Those who regularly tune into YES’ coverage of Aaron Boone’s press conferences have not enjoyed the recent stretch of Bombers losing, lack of offense, nor the manager’s performance while answering questions.
In the face of defeat, and the routine inquiries that come with it, they want Boone to show some emotion. Get angry. Raise the decibel level. Stop protecting players who are not performing. And start reacting to the ever-growing number of harsh critics, like ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who compared Boone’s Yankees to “garbage” that ”smells like sewers in the Bronx.”
On ESPN-98.7, Don La Greca urged Boone to change things up for motivational purposes. “Bring a military man in to speak to the team,” DLG said. “Do something!”
Instead, on TV, Boone stays in character. This is one major reason why the Yankees hired him in the first place. Unlike his predecessor Joe Girardi, who had the personality of a clenched fist, Boone rocks on an even keel while dealing with the media. Those who find him too calm, while the losses and goose eggs pile up, devalue the steadiness and stability Boone projects.
This is where this manager really earns his money. Losing is bad enough. It’s made even worse when accompanied by outward panic or anger from the manager. Boone is a master of media consistency. He has not spewed any defiant rhetoric providing back pages, turning him into a target. Behind a microphone he’s no firebrand. On YES, Boone deals with the losing, and all that comes with it, in matter-of-fact tones.
“As far as the division lead and the pressure, welcome to Major League Baseball and playing in the pennant race,” Boone said recently. Boone’s steadiness apparently reached the clubhouse. His modus operandi has not led to any juicy stories about behind-the-scenes finger-pointing.
Buck Showalter’s presence in Queens has created another image issue for Boone. Showalter’s media stylings have drawn rave reviews. His ability to dish country comfort during his SNY sessions has drawn comparisons with Boone’s more buttoned-down communications approach.
Still, Boone has used the media opportunities to spread his own reality. His words remind viewers he didn’t publicly jump to the conclusion his team would break all kinds of records while running away with the AL East. The media did. And that includes the network airing his press conferences. While the Yankees were on fire, YES promos portrayed the team as an unstoppable juggernaut.
Even the scholars occupying the Al Yankzeera broadcast booth, had no time to spin cautionary tales or the realities attached to the longest season. Like other experts, they were already wondering out loud how the new playoff format would impact the Yankees. Boone, at least on TV, didn’t play Fortune Teller.
He was too busy trying to convince you that winning ain’t easy.
YANKS SPIN O’NEILL DAY
If the Yankees could cash-in by allowing Paul O’Neill to work from the YES booth he would be there. Money is why the former Yankees outfielder, and current YES analyst, is scheduled to show up at the Stadium Sunday for the retirement of his No. 21.
When in doubt remember this: In the baseball biz, ticket sales rule. Even over health concerns.
The Sunday ceremony will be televised by YES, the network O’Neill works for — sort of. YES has a COVID vaccine mandate for its employees. Up to this point, according to MLB sources, O’Neill has not been vaccinated. That’s why he has been working Yankees telecasts from his Ohio home.
His remote appearances, which give the telecasts a “Wayne’s World” quality, have hindered the productions, causing delays between audio/video and voices speaking over each other. Yet the show, even with O’Neill dragging it down, must go on.
O’Neill being prohibited from attending his number retirement ceremony? Now that would impact a great ticket-selling opportunity, big-time. The Yankee organization issuing all the gobbledygook about the difference between the ceremony being on the field and O’Neill staying out of the TV booth is a bunch of dizzying spin.
The Yankees — on YES and other media platforms — have been pushing tickets to the O’Neill ceremony for weeks. And remember, O’Neill was a favorite of the late George Steinbrenner who dubbed him The Warrior.
Get it? Unless something unexpected went down, there was no way this ceremony, with O’Neill in attendance, was not going to happen. No matter his vaccination status.
NO SUNDAY SERIES
With no World Series games scheduled for Sunday night this year (unprecedented, by the way) Fox Sports suits won’t have to show how they value the NFL over MLB.
The Foxies can have both Kevin Burkhardt (its “new” No 1 NFL play-by-play voice/World Series studio anchor) and Joe Davis (its”new” No. 1 MLB play-by-play voice/No. 2 NFL play-by-play voice) squeeze in an NFL game on the MLB off-days and not have to pick a voice and offend one of their partners.
Both Fox yakkers found themselves in high profile spots after Joe Buck, the long-time voice of Fox Sports, split to ESPN’s Monday Night Football booth joining his partner, Troy Aikman.
MAD DOG’S HYPOCRISY
While recuperating from shoulder surgery, Stephen A. Smith must have studied up on Christopher (Mad Dog) Russo.
On a recent episode of “First Take,” Russo hammered Aaron Rodgers over publicly calling out his young receivers for training camp mistakes. Russo said Rodgers should have delivered his critiques privately. This was high-level hypocrisy, considering Doggie has made a cottage industry out of trashing colleagues in public over the years.
In a gotcha moment, SAS called Russo out for dumping on his SXM MadDog Radio co-workers and named names. If he wanted to, Smith could’ve added Yankees radio analyst Suzyn Waldman to his list and a number of other voices too.
Glad to see SAS is not letting Dog get away with such shenanigans.
AROUND THE DIAL
On the recent KayRod Cast, Michael Kay came up big during a tricky interview with Derek Jeter/Alex Rodriguez. There was a lot of baggage in the studio, plenty of questions to ask and ground to cover in a limited amount of time. Kay got it done, while still keeping up with the Yankees-Red Sox tilt. Impressive. …
On WFAN there’s plenty of hype about the Audacy app. Once you’re on the Audacy app, the hype is hard to believe. There are annoying bugs and glitches. Like leaving a show and not being able to access the live feed when you return. Fix it. …
The NFL doesn’t even try anymore. Roger Goodell & Co. will dive under any cesspool looking for a marketing opportunity. Like scheduling serial women abuser Deshaun Watson’s first game back from suspension in Week 13 against the Texans, his former team. …
Some of ESPN’s NFL reporters seemed unusually excited/strident while reporting on the Watson settlement story. Like Dianna Russini, who said her info was coming from Watson’s side. Russini was careful to stress Watson was “not” apologizing directly “to” the women he abused but apologizing “for” the mistakes he had made. Sure sounds like he wasn’t really apologizing. …
FAN’s Brandon Tierney was pretty harsh on the Yankees last week. That doesn’t mean he won’t flip-flop if the Bombers turn things around. No biggie. All Gasbags enjoy the luxury of only being accountable for the ratings they produce, not the opinions they deliver.
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DUDE OF THE WEEK: DEREK JETER
Reviews of the seven-part ESPN docuseries on his life and Yankees career were mixed. Yet Jeter’s willingness (albeit with editorial control) to grab the media spotlight (which included an appearance on the KayRod stage) was refreshing. The man had plenty to say. More, please.
DWEEB OF THE WEEK: SOCIAL MEDIA MDs
Any person with a medical license should be embarrassed about diagnosing sports injuries while watching TV. Really? That’s your contribution? All the expert opinions when Zach Wilson went down made us shudder.
DOUBLE TALK
What Brian Daboll said: “But will [Tyrod Taylor] get a few reps here or there? He might.”
What Brian Daboll meant to say: “If Daniel Jones falters, I won’t hesitate using Taylor.”
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