Okay, it’s the middle of May, and New York sports fans have their attention turned to… basketball! However, the Knicks were forced into a nine day long hiatus waiting to finally see who they would play next in the NBA playoffs, so that left the Yankees and Mets to fill the time. It was a lost week for the Yankees, with the emphasis on “lost”; after struggling in Baltimore, they went to Queens, where the Yankees let Saturday and Sunday’s games slip away. They’re now 2-7 in their last nine games and have tumbled into second place in the American League East.
Legendary sportscaster Warner Wolf was watching and took the opportunity to critique the managerial style of Yankees skipper Aaron Boone. He appeared on 710 WOR’s Curtis Sliwa and Larry Mendte in the Morning program to explain why Boone’s “by the book” leadership style may cost the Yankees yet in 2026.
Wolf offered the losses that bookended the past week as Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 1A of why the Yankees could open on the road or be heading back home when the playoffs start: “If the Yankees, who now trail the Rays by three games, lose the division by one or two games, they can go back to (Sunday), when Aaron Boone took out his starter, Elmer Rodriguez, in a 1-1 game in the fifth inning and brought in six relievers… and this comes right after he took out Ryan Weathers last Monday, who had a no-hitter going into the 7th inning against Baltimore and a 2-0 lead… When will Boone finally realize Mariano Rivera is not coming out of the bullpen?”
If you head down the Jersey Turnpike, however, you’ll find the success story that Yankees legend Don Mattingly has authored with the Philadelphia Phillies. Wolf couldn’t praise Donnie Baseball enough; the Phillies have gone 15-4 since he became manager on April 28th: “Saturday night, he let his starter, Christopher Sanchez, go all the way, shutting out the Pirates on five hits. A complete game- unlike Boone, Mattingly took into consideration, hey, forget the pitch count, which was 108; what’s the score and how’s he doing? Boone would’ve taken him out! Give me Mattingly’s old-school style over Boone any time.”
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