Hour 1: Aaron Boone v Media

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg Podcast Summary: Hour 1 – Aaron Boone vs. Media

Release Date: July 23, 2025

In the inaugural episode of the "Don, Hahn & Rosenberg" podcast, hosts Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, and Peter Rosenberg delve deep into the tumultuous relationship between New York Yankees Manager Aaron Boone and the media. This insightful discussion intertwines team performance analysis with a critical examination of media interactions, providing listeners with a comprehensive view of the current state of the Yankees and the broader sports landscape.

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1. Team Performance Highlights

The episode kicks off with a detailed analysis of recent games involving the Yankees and the Mets. Don La Greca provides updates on ongoing matches, emphasizing key moments and player performances.

• Yankees vs. Blue Jays: Don mentions, “The Yankees are back to three, back off the Blue Jays with a chance to take the series tonight” (04:21). He highlights the Yankees' strategic moves and the importance of maintaining momentum in the postseason race.

• Mets' Struggles: The discussion shifts to the Mets' bullpen issues, with Don expressing concerns about their ability to secure victories in tight situations. “They're going to have to start getting length out of these starting pitchers because I believe they're going to make a deal to strengthen the bullpen” (27:00).

2. Aaron Boone's Media Interactions

A significant portion of the podcast is dedicated to Aaron Boone's interactions with the media, sparked by a recent interview Boone had with Buster Olney.

• Interview Breakdown: Boone addresses the challenges of dealing with persistent and leading questions from the media. He states, “We’ve been pretty good over the years of, like, compartmentalizing and... it’s a bad trait” (14:41). Hosts analyze Boone’s approach, noting his attempts to remain composed while under scrutiny.

• Don’s Perspective: Don criticizes Boone’s restrained demeanor, suggesting that it doesn’t resonate with the fans. “You know what? You almost hear the tone of voice is like I don't wanna have to be bothered with the media” (16:15). He argues that fans crave genuine emotion and accountability from their manager, especially during challenging seasons.

• Keith Roth’s Insights: Keith Roth adds that Boone’s calmness can be misinterpreted by fans, leading to frustration. “When you say you can't handle the truth, who can't handle it? The media can” (43:26). He emphasizes the necessity of media in conveying information to the fans, countering the notion that Boone’s frustrations lie solely with the media.

3. Fan and Media Dynamics

The hosts explore the broader relationship between sports teams and the media, emphasizing its essential role despite inherent tensions.

• Media as a Conduit: Don asserts, “The media is the conduit. So when you condescend to the media, you're kind of condescending to the fans” (32:07). He underscores the importance of media in keeping fans informed and engaged, especially in a market as intense as New York.

• Historical Comparisons: Drawing parallels to past sports figures, Don references Joe Girardi, suggesting that Boone's current challenges are reminiscent of Girardi's tenure. “The reason why Joe Girardi was fired was his handling of Gary Sanchez” (43:50).

4. Caller Perspectives

Listeners contribute their views on Boone's management and media interactions, adding depth to the discussion.

• Caller on Boone's Authenticity: A caller named Dave expresses frustration over Boone's perceived lack of transparency. “No, I know he's not going to do it. But there are times he goes a little too far” (31:13). Don agrees, highlighting the need for Boone to balance professionalism with genuine emotion.

• Steve’s Concerns: Another caller, Steve, critiques Boone's reliance on analytics and defensive tactics. “Don’t rip him. Just tell me the truth” (42:11). Don responds by stressing the importance of honesty and accountability in leadership.

5. Bullpen and Player Performance

The conversation shifts to specific player performances, focusing on the Mets' bullpen and key players like Anthony Volpe.

• Volpe’s Struggles: Keith Roth points out, “Volpe is not defending” (46:54). Both hosts agree that Volpe's performance has been disappointing, raising questions about Boone's strategies and player development.

• Bullpen Concerns: Don discusses the necessity for the Mets to bolster their bullpen, citing recent games where bullpen performance was pivotal. “Talking about bullpens: For the Mets it’s bullpen. For the Yankees it’s third base” (12:22).

6. Concluding Thoughts

In wrapping up, the hosts emphasize the intricate balance Boone must maintain between team performance and media relations. They advocate for Boone to show more genuine emotion and accountability to align better with fan expectations.

• Don’s Final Take: “The one thing that never has changed, is never going to change is that conduit, the ability to use our access to get information that fans can't get” (40:21). He reiterates the essential role of media in sports.

• Keith’s Summary: Keith concludes by acknowledging that while Boone may struggle with media interactions, the media remains a vital link between the team and its supporters. “Not everything is always positive. There are always things that you want to know about decisions that were made” (40:42).

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Notable Quotes

• Don La Greca (16:15): “But if you're calm, that he's actually calm. And sometimes the fans are like, why are you so calm?”

• Aaron Boone (14:41): “We are obsessed with it and hellbent, preparation wise, and guys give a rip.”

• Keith Roth (43:26): “When you say you can't handle the truth, who can't handle it? The media can.”

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This episode provides a nuanced exploration of Aaron Boone's managerial style amidst media scrutiny, set against the backdrop of the Yankees' and Mets' current performances. Through engaging dialogue and thoughtful analysis, Don, Hahn, and Rosenberg offer listeners valuable insights into the complexities of managing a high-profile sports team in today's media-driven environment.

Transcript

[Don La Greca]

Todd, a lot of virgins working in one room together. A lot can be accomplished.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Han, I just got excited.

[Alan Hahn]

And Rosenberg, Alan just expressed theoretical arousal about the Dolly Parton puppet.

[Don La Greca]

This isn't North Dakota, this is New York.

[Pat O'Keefe]

This is Don, Han and Rosenberg.

[Don La Greca]

The best threesome I've ever heard on.

[Pat O'Keefe]

880 ESPN and the ESPN New York.

[Don La Greca]

App 300 one of the big city. Don Hahn and Rosenberg with you till 7 o' clock here as we're on 1050 to start because the Mets are on 8 80. But that shouldn't matter to you because you've got the app and you download it, you consume everything ESPN on the app. So if you were listening, you knew that Jordan Ronan, who filled in admirably for Allen Hahn yesterday, is Giants camp today and he'll be back with us on Thursday and Friday. And that opened the door for my friend Pat o' Keefe to fill in today. And he did the same thing that Jordan did yesterday. He's filling in for Allen, but he's sitting in Peter's seat so that he is filling in for two people at the same time. Hello, man. Good to see you.

[Keith Roth]

Have we done this before?

[Don La Greca]

I don't think we have.

[Keith Roth]

Not on this.

[Don La Greca]

We've been together before. You've done pre games when I've done play by play for the Rangers or the Knicks. So I've seen you at the Garden a ton of times. You've come to the sasso softball, you've been at different events, but I don't think I've ever sat down and done a show with you.

[Keith Roth]

You know what? I remember one time, it was John Ratel night at Madison Square Garden when they retired the other number 11. Excuse me, the original number 11. And we hosted the pregame ceremony together for a few minutes. But you know, if you didn't happen to catch those 20 minutes of blissful radio, you got the next four hours.

[Don La Greca]

You got four hours and there's plenty to dive into and talk about. We've got a list coming up at 4:30. I'm gonna tell you what it's gonna be. It's gonna be Ozzy related as we lost Ozzy Osbourne yesterday, right when the show started, we found out about it. And I know you're not the biggest metal guy, but everybody knows Ozzy Osbourne. It's been all over the news, all over the place. A lot of times sports is intertwined with him because when he was arrested for urinating on the Alamo, which was a big deal back when it happened, he was wearing a St. Louis Blues T shirt. So his mug shot, he's wearing a blues T shirt. So they had fun with that. And he actually opened one of the NFL seasons playing live. I forget which one. It was going back a few years ago. So he, I don't think he was the biggest sports fan in the world, but he certainly related to a lot of people. He was a household name. So um, he passed and. And Keith Roth, who does a great job with the dictators and he's a DJ over at Ozzy's Boneyard. New Ozzy. He's going to join us a little bit later on in the 4 o' clock hour after I give the list, reminisce about Ozzy and what he knew. And he's also a big sports fan, Keith, and a big fan of the show. So we'll talk to him. Enn led by Jacob Perry again coming up at 6 o'. Clock. But Mets are playing right now. Six three Mets go to the bullpen all of a sudden a couple of runs in the seventh inning for the Angels. So top of the seventh inning, six three are our national nightmare is over. Lindor has got a couple of hits after going over these last 30 longest streak of his career. But the Mets trying to bring out the brooms against the Angels haven't played well. But taking advantage of the schedule is what you have to do because a lot of bad teams in Major League Baseball But I guess the jumping off point and you're a big Yankee guy is, you know, the Yankee, that was a big win last night. Rice gets the home run in the ninth inning to break the 44 tie after they blow a 41 lead. And it's just about getting wins, right? And you got to do what you got to do. And now you're, you're, you're back to three, back of the Blue Jays with a chance to take the series tonight.

[Keith Roth]

I think it's a big win, especially if you think about where things would be if they didn't win that game, which for a while it looked like they weren't going to win that game. Like you said, Chisholm hits the three run homer in the first inning.

[Don La Greca]

They're off. Yeah, you're in good shape.

[Keith Roth]

Yeah, they're up four to one. But you're playing this team you haven't beaten. They're up four games on you in the division. Now all of a sudden you get into your bullpen, you can't hold the lead, it's tied at 4 and all signs are pointing to Another Toronto rally. They have an 11 game winning streak in their ballpark, a loss pushes you five games behind it. It's another devastating loss. So they were able to avoid that with one huge swing of the bat by Ben Rice in the ninth inning. And don't undersell Devin Williams coming in. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the much maligned Devin Williams, he's looked, he's looked good.

[Don La Greca]

Gave up a single but got out of it.

[Keith Roth]

A little single. I think against the shift against Guerrero, you know, nothing, you know, not the, the 450 foot home run he gave up to Acuna to lead off the ninth inning on, on Sunday afternoon. But he got out of it. He's looked better. And yeah, you're right in the context of all of that, I think a very important win for the Yankees. But you know, this has to go from a Yankees team where, you know, you have to kind of scrape and claw to win every single game to can you string a week together? Can you string a couple of weeks together? So that makes tonight's game important.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah. And you got a chance to take a series. So you go from, oh my God, we just lost again to the Blue Jays, we're four back to you gain a game by taking two out of three. And we had a caller on Monday said, got to sweep the series. I get you want to sweep, but we want to do is win series. And if you take two out of three, you didn't play well against the Braves, but you took two out of three on the road. You go to the Blue Jays, they got the best record in baseball at home. Take two out of three, that's what you want to do. And then you got the Phillies coming in, Phillies taking care of business against the Red Sox. So they've cooled Boston down a little bit. So the Yankees are okay. See, this is the juxtaposition I get from doing this show about, oh my God, the sky is falling with the Yankees and people like Buster only saying you should be concerned about the Yankees. Well, what is your level of concern? Concern to win a championship? Yeah, I'd be concerned about him winning a championship. They're making the playoffs. I don't think there's a scenario where they don't make the playoffs. These teams, these teams just aren't good enough. The Blue Jays may win the division. They got the lead. They've, they've handled the Yankees pretty well. I'd be concerned about winning the division, but concerned about making the playoffs. No, you're going to make the playoffs. Are you concerned about that?

[Keith Roth]

No. They should make the playoffs. But what. But my question about that is, what does that mean now? Because 40% of the American League makes the playoffs.

[Don La Greca]

Thank you.

[Keith Roth]

Right. So you make the playoffs, Toronto wins the division. In this hypothetical now, you're in a two out of three crapshoot. If you have two bad games or you run up against two hot starters and your season is done in two nights, that you don't want that, that's a disaster. But that's a disaster for how they're.

[Don La Greca]

But Yankee fans and Met fans, too, have a tendency to start going a little overboard sometimes with like, the sky's falling. This team's not making the playoffs. We had a caller yesterday. This team's not gonna make the playoffs. Well, if they're not gonna make the playoffs, who's making it? Okay. I don't think anybody else is coming out of the Central. Detroit's running away with that. And then Detroit, they've. They've really cooled off since being the best team in baseball. What are. They lost seven of their last eight. I mean, they're still gonna comfortably win that division. So nobody's coming out of the Central. Seattle, you saw firsthand when they came to the Yankee Stadium how flawed they are. I wouldn't be concerned about them passing you for a wild card. Houston, hey, you have to face them in the playoffs, you're going to be concerned about it. But as far as three other teams being better than them for the wild card is not going to happen. They're making the playoffs. I understand what you're saying. I don't want to have to play that extra layer. Best of three, you don't want to have to do that, even with three games at home, if you're the number one wildcard. So you may not win the division, but you're making the playoffs. I'm sorry. And you got Freed going tonight against Bassett. That should be a good pitching matchup. And if you take care of business here, these are the examples why. May not win the division, but you are definitely making the playoffs.

[Keith Roth]

And the path to the World Series is still there. And it's pretty much the same path as last year. I mean, let's be honest. When they went to the World Series last year and did not play well in the World Series at all, the path to the World Series, they weren't overly impressive against the Royals.

[Don La Greca]

No.

[Keith Roth]

They squeaked past the guardians, and then all of a sudden they're in the World Series. But it wasn't an easy. They didn't make it easy, but it was a pretty easy path for them. Remember how things broke? The Orioles gave them trouble. They lost in the first round. You're always concerned about the Astros. They lost in the wild card round. Everything broke so perfectly for the Yankees last year and they still didn't breeze to the World Series. That being said, it's kind of the same path this year.

[Don La Greca]

You mentioned it about the 40% of teams make the playoffs in each league.

[Keith Roth]

It's just silly.

[Don La Greca]

Well, yeah, but it. The thing about baseball is, is that you've got to change with the times, all right? You got to embrace the analytics. Your home run hitter doesn't bat fourth anymore. You don't steal bases like he used to. You don't bunt like you used to. But also you don't treat the regular season like you used to. This series against Toronto, pre wild card would have been the end all, be all, because if you don't win the division, you don't go. And when there was one, one wild card, two wild cards, hey, there was, hey, we want to do better than that. Now you got 12 of 30 teams making the playoffs, Pat. 12, hockey, which was always the joke. Regular season doesn't mean anything. Everybody makes the playoffs. 16 of 32 make it. So still a higher percentage than baseball. But 12 of 30, you're dangerously close to like almost half. Like, there's not great teams that make the playoffs in baseball now. So when I have the conversation with Alan, like I did on Monday, when I said I don't see the Mets being a championship caliber team, he's like, but you're only half game back at Philadelphia. But both could be true. I could be a playoff team. I can compete my division, but still not be a championship caliber team. See what the Mets and Yankees do on the 31st. See how many moves they make that'll tell you how even they think about their chances of winning a championship. There was a day where if I made the playoffs in baseball, I automatically I'm a championship caliber team. But now you're like the NBA and the NFL and the NHL, where making the playoffs might still not be enough to prove that you are a team that can legitimately make a run. And I don't think right now, even though the Mets are winning, I don't feel like either of these teams are in a place where we can say right now is presently constituted their championship caliber.

[Keith Roth]

Yeah, it reminds me, you know, remember the Knicks? They've had, you know, several periods this century where they've gone Multiple years without making the playoffs. And then they. They brought in Amari Stoudemire and they traded for Carmelo Anthony. In 2011, they finally went back to the playoffs and they got swept by the Celtics. They were in the playoffs. I think they were the sixth seed that year. That year. Were they a championship caliber team because they were in the playoffs? No, absolutely not. They weren't even close. It was so. But there are that equivalent of baseball teams this year.

[Don La Greca]

Now.

[Keith Roth]

The one caveat I would add though is in the National League. I do think it's skewed heavily. The talent towards the National League. I mean the path that I just kind of described for the Yankees that they would have to go through in the American League. It's not that way in the National. You're actually going to get good teams in the National League that don't even get one of the wild card spots. There's so much depth there. Now the Mets, if the Mets were in the America, here's how I would, I guess describe the two teams. The Mets are a better team than the Yankees, I think. I think they're a more complete team if all things are equal. But you have to factor in what's the. The road to the World Series. And it's much more daunting for the Mets. So because of that, I'd actually put them at least on even ground right now in terms of chances to make a deep playoff run this year.

[Don La Greca]

And I mentioned it yesterday with the Mets. You could say it about the Yankees as well. They're both going to make or at least try to make significant moves to the deadline. But there are things internally that can be a help for the Mets. Alvarez gets called back up, had a big hit the other night, had a home run last night. So you're starting to see that maybe he can be almost like an acquisition. If he starts to hit the way he's supposed to hit, that might help the bottom of the order where they're not looking necessarily for a bat. They can just focus on making sure they trade prospects to help this bullpen, which I think is 1, 2 and 3 as far as the things that they got to address. And Schlitler is a guy with the Yankees that maybe makes you feel like maybe I don't need another starter. Maybe this is somebody that could really help us. Cause he's made two starts here and he's been pretty impressive. In those two starts he got out of trouble. What was that bases loaded jam where he got Guerrero to pop up to get out Was that the second or third inning like again I need to see more but maybe it's possible that from within they might be able to.

[Keith Roth]

Find some help and they got Luis heel still hopefully coming back.

[Don La Greca]

Right.

[Keith Roth]

Who you would like to slot in as your third starter for the Yankees. The reason why bringing in a starting pitcher maybe you can get away with it with a guy like Schlitler for example like you say or Stroman's actually been really good but how much longer can he can he do that? His last three starts have been good. You don't need an ace for the Yankees, right? You have an ace. He's going tonight And Freed Rodon's been a very good number two starter this year. Do I still fully trust him when it gets to October? I do not but I trust him now more than I have at any point since he put on pinstripes for the first time. If he'll can come back as your third starter. He was a third starter last year for a team that went to the World Series. So now what do you need? You just need starter depth. You don't need an ace. It's a lot easier to either develop or bring in a fourth starter. It's not as heavy a lift in terms of moving prospects or trading but.

[Don La Greca]

For the Mets it's bullpen. For the Yankees it's third base. Those are those are the things that they're going to have to make sure that they address. Absolutely they get there and whether Suarez you're going to be able to get him I guess that's going to be the big deal and you'd be adding a guy that's got 30 plus home runs and not a great defender. But you'll probably get over it if you begin to hit the other place I wanted to go and of course Join us at 1-800-9193776 Mets and Yankees are both on the table although with the Mets playing probably focus a little bit more on the Yankees is it's been such a topic of conversation if you've been listening about just the general perception of Aaron Boone and the media it's always so positive and he always defends his players and sometimes it can get quite frankly nauseating how the Yankees just in general just don't seem to at least the perception of through the media after games whether it's the players or Boone showing the sense of urgency that the fans believe they should for underachieving so far this year and it was something that John Boy and he does a weekly with Them what those guys addressed with Boone yesterday. And I thought, I don't know how much you heard of it. I finally got a chance to hear it this morning. And it's pretty interesting on both sides of the ledger of agreeing and disagreeing with Boone. But let's hear what he had to say about or being mad about being asked to be more transparent with the media.

[Aaron Boone]

Understand the pestering, bantering, leading questions that are being asked.

[Buster Olney]

I understand that.

[Aaron Boone]

And I don't want them to just fly off the handle and be emotional. You know, we've been pretty good over the years of, like, compartmentalizing and. And dealing with the everyday grind of the regular season and playing in New York and all the. And you start getting emotional and going down that road. It's a bad trait.

[Buster Olney]

I get it. I guess there's just a difference. Like, you know, Weaver had a couple bad outings. The way he talked to the media, it just. It felt honest and it felt. And he was like, different.

[Aaron Boone]

Stop with the reaction of how a guy answers a freaking question.

[Buster Olney]

But it's not. It's not one guy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's.

[Aaron Boone]

It's like, okay, okay, we gotta win. We understand.

[Buster Olney]

Gotta win. I remembered my question from earlier.

[Aaron Boone]

We are. We are obsessed with it and hellbent, preparation wise, and guys give a rip.

[Buster Olney]

Okay, so this is great, but this doesn't come through.

[Aaron Boone]

Everyone handles things different. Some people give you colorful answers.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah.

[Aaron Boone]

Oh, I love that media. Some guys throw their helmet. Does that make you feel good? Some guys are calm. Stop it. It doesn't mean a guy cares more or less because he dives into home plate.

[Don La Greca]

Okay?

[Aaron Boone]

It's. You got to be angry at something because we didn't win. So I gotta direct my anger at something.

[Buster Olney]

I hear you're saying that you guys feel urgency, that you want to win. That doesn't come across. The messaging has been. There's a lot of season left. We just got to keep going and we're fine. You know, I don't regret that play. I wouldn't have done things any differently. It's like, well, that the messaging feels different than what you just delivered.

[Aaron Boone]

You don't listen to all my answers, then you pull.

[Buster Olney]

No, no, I'm not talking about you. I think you've actually been way more in this light this season.

[Aaron Boone]

Well, Luke Weaver, you loved his answer.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah.

[Buster Olney]

I also love Luke Weaver, though.

[Aaron Boone]

Okay, okay. Like, you're cherry picking the answers you like that are like, yeah, yes. Tugging at my fandom in the right way. Like, sorry, they're not robots.

[Buster Olney]

Yeah. That's what I want. I want more non robotic answers.

[Aaron Boone]

I don't care what you want.

[Buster Olney]

All right, well, I'm just letting you.

[Aaron Boone]

Know these are answers of pestering everyday questions. I want our guys in a good. We are locked in when it's and when it's really good and all in between. I want us locked. I want to showing up every day ready to prepare and ready to go period.

[Don La Greca]

Now there's two different reactions I have to that the one side. I get it. All right. He's not gonna fly off the handle. He is gonna try to keep it close to the vest. If he loses his head, the team loses their head and now they lose focus on the task at hand. But where he loses me a bit is you almost hear the tone of voice is like I don't wanna have to be bothered with the media. I don't want your questions, your leading questions. Pestering. You use the word pestering. I'm sorry, Aaron, you should know, third generation ballplayer. This is the way that it is. Should it be different? Yeah, I guess. But you know what? You know what the alternative is? Nobody caring about your team, nobody covering your team. Then guess what? You wouldn't be making the money that you make. You wouldn't exist as an entity if there were no fans. Part of being a New York Yankee or a New York Met or being a popular team is that people care about what you do. So don't make it seem like it's some kind of negative that the media is around. Yes, sometimes they're leading questions. Yes, sometimes it's aggravating and you don't want to have to do it. But the alternative is people not caring. This fan base cares. They're watching the post game. They're paying attention to everything that you say. So don't completely discard them as being some sort of a distraction when it's the whole reason you have a job in the first place or a nuisance.

[Keith Roth]

It's not a nuisance. Now, Aaron got here in 2018.

[Don La Greca]

Yes.

[Keith Roth]

Has the New York media taken it up a level in intensity or pestering or leading questions in that time? Because I have always been under the impression as someone who grew up a sports fan and has now been a member of the New York media since I'd say roughly 2007, that the new York media nationwide, especially when it comes to sports, already has a certain reputation, as always has having been tough to deal with because of all of the reasons you just laid out. There's a lot of competition among the New York media for eyeballs to consume their content. And there is, most importantly, as you said, Don, a lot of interest in that content. The New York media has never been easy. Managers for generations have had to deal with the same exact pestering or leading questions that he is now complaining about, and it's ridiculous.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah, this isn't new. And also because there's always that line that. Cause whenever we have this conversation, the fans always like, well, the media. You guys are a pain in the ass. You. You bother these players. We don't need you. Well, you kind of do. Because in the same breath you'll ask me if you see me on the street, like, hey, is Chris Kreider playing next week? Because you kind of rely on the information that I might be able to get. You still want to know. You still want to know the information. You get that information because the media is given access to be able to talk to the players, to find out stuff that you want. If there are no fans, there's no media. All right, take a look at the teams. The lesser the fan base, the less the media. You know, I cover. You know, I cover the Rangers. Rangers are very popular team, so there'd be a lot of media around them when they're home. When I go to Montreal, go to Toronto, go to Vancouver, there's 50 people in the dressing room before, after morning skate cameras all over the place. When I go to Carolina, I go to Florida, I go to Dallas, I go to Nashville. There's like two or three guys, by.

[Keith Roth]

The way, all really good teams, but.

[Don La Greca]

They'Re really good teams, but non traditional markets. And it's not the most important thing in the world. You know, if I go to Columbus on a Saturday when Ohio State's playing, you know, there's not going to be as much media there because the Columbus Blue Jackets, all the media is covering the Buckeyes because the Buckeyes are more important or the Reds are more important or the Guardians are more like. The thing is, is that the Yankees are the biggest thing in this market and they're good and 50,000 people go to see them every day. The bigger the fan base, the more important the games. There's going to be more media. All right, go play in Miami. Be, you know, 20 games under.500. You'll love it. Oh, when I. John Tortorella hated the media. He hated going to Montreal. He loved going to Nashville. Sometimes he'd be able to cancel talking to anybody in the mornings because nobody would be there. He loved it. But that Was him. He hated the media. But. And it doesn't like Boone's the biggest fan either. But the alternative is playing for a lousy team and a lousy sports market and nobody caring. Would you rather this and the phone. The phone calls that we get? The fans complaining they. The media is asking the questions the fans want to ask. Yeah, there are fans out there that don't care. Yeah, that. There are fans out there that just. The Yankees can't do anything wrong. And if they had a chance to interview the players, they'd be asking them what their favorite color is. But for the most part, 90% of the fans want to know why that pitcher was pulled. They want to know why the team is struggling offensively. They want to know why they can't beat the Toronto Blue Jays. And the media asks those questions and they're irritating and they're bothersome, but you got to do it. It's part of your job. And I wish that fire that he showed in that interview was what we see in the post game. That's what the fans want.

[Keith Roth]

That's what the fans want. That's exactly.

[Don La Greca]

See, that's that. See, if I had a chance to talk to Boone, I would say I'm not upset. You're irritated. I'm upset that you just seem to put on this happy face when I know you're not happy. I've seen you explode on those interviews with John Boy. He sometimes would get on us when he was a weekly with us. I've seen you rip into umpires and lose it. They want to know you're human. And when these players give you. When Aaron judge after you beat Atlanta but don't look good, say, well, that's a pretty good team out there with a good pitching staff. No, that's a crap team with no pitching, Aaron. So stop feeding us a bunch of garbage. We know too much. Don't make the Braves out to be this big thing. Say you're upset. Say that we can't tolerate that I'm the captain of the New York Yankees. We shouldn't have struggled against the Braves. We shouldn't be struggling against Toronto. That's what you want to hear, not the constant doctoring up of the information. As irritated as you be. I had no problem with that interview with John Boyd because he showed at least emotion. What's so wrong with that?

[Keith Roth]

That's all the fans want to say.

[Don La Greca]

That's all they want to say.

[Keith Roth]

Ironically, he's complaining about the fans. He's complaining about the questioning. And while he's complaining. He's literally exhibiting a little bit of what the fans want to see and they don't need to see it every game because if you do it all the time, then it's lost and it falls on deaf ears. You know, you ha.

[Don La Greca]

I don't want to know.

[Keith Roth]

If you do it once in a while and it's genuine, you're allowed. You're telling that he's gone through this entire season and not been pissed off one time. Here's the thing. I understand it's a different world and how you deal with professional athletes. And it's not like when Billy Martin and Earl Weaver were managing. You've got to coddle them a lot more. We get that. But are you telling me that it's gone so far that when you got a rookie like Yorby Vivas who's on second base and is dogging it into third base, this guy who's on the cusp of not even being a major league player, he's literally should be playing every game for his career and he dogs it like that.

[Aaron Boone]

And.

[Keith Roth]

And he ends a rally that could have been two on and Aaron Judge coming to the plate. When you're down 3 nothing early in a game, when you're in the middle of a pennant race, you can't get upset about that. What's the downside of Aaron Boone coming out and saying that's completely unacceptable. What's going to happen to Aaron Boone if he did that?

[Don La Greca]

I know, exactly. And also he's right. There's some guys that throw their helmet and some guys just go back to the dugout. Everybody's different. But I think what irritates a lot of fans is we know Boone can lose it. We just heard it.

[Keith Roth]

So.

[Don La Greca]

So I have to believe then when he's calm that he's actually calm. And sometimes the fans are like, why are you so calm? Why don't you show a little Jamora playoffs, a little Allen Iverson practice, something, you know, and, and you can't say that's not him because it is him. But it's also, we know why Joe Girardi's not here. Because Joe Girardi would rub his bald head and go, oh, God. You know, and the Yankees didn't like that because the Yankees want to be able to see stability in those post game press conferences. I just want him to be human because I know he is a great guy.

[Keith Roth]

He's human in that manager. I agree with all that.

[Don La Greca]

He's very human in that clip. And I think that's what they want. Your thoughts on this 1-800-919-3776. We've got sound from both the jets and the Giants as camp is open. Summer is over for a lot of these guys to cover the NFL because now they're going to be spending their time over in Florham park and East Rutherford getting ready for the start of the NFL season. We're all over that. We got a list at 4:30, we got ENN at 6. It's Don Hanna Rosenberg and we've got Pat O' Keefe filling in here till 7:00 clock on ESPN New York.

[Alan Hahn]

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[Pat O'Keefe]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don La Greca]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Pat O'Keefe]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Don La Greca]

Top of the eighth inning over at Citi Field. The Mets looking for the sweep of the angels. They're up 63 but the tying runs at the plate for the Angels and Diaz is out there for a four out save. Mania only gave them five innings. It was really good. Two hits, one run, five strikeouts. But now they got to go try to navigate 12 outs out of the bullpen. Brazabon, Buto, Raley and now Diaz trying to get the four out save. That didn't work over the weekend against the Reds, although they did win the game. So runners at first and second, two outs. Diaz trying to get out of that jam in the eighth and that's holding onto a three run lead. Yankees visit the Blue Jays 707. That'll be on Prime Video. Tullamore Dew, the original triple distilled, triple blended and triple cash matured Iris whiskey. Be sure to grab a Tullamore Dew or try the new Tullamore Dew Honey during today's action. Glasses up to enjoying Telemore Dew responsibly. You know, that's going to be the downfall of this Met team. They're going to have to start getting length out of these starting pitchers because I believe they're going to make a deal to strengthen the bullpen. But you can't get nine outs. I get. But if you got, you start getting plus nine like 12 out. Say that that's, that's really difficult to do. That's dancing with the devil to me. So as good as Sanga Mania and Montas can be, if I know going in, especially in a playoff game that those guys might not get me more than five innings, that's home dangerous and well, Holmes, what do you think of this? And we'll get back to the Yankees and the calls in a second. This was brought up actually by DP since Holmes isn't going to start in the playoffs. Because you figure with those guys healthy, Holmes is your fifth starter and you don't use your fifth starter in the playoffs. And since he's got experience coming out of the bullpen, since you're probably going to have him go back to the bullpen in the playoffs, would you maybe go get a starter and if you can land a starter at the deadline, then have Holmes be the way you improve your bullpen and you could tell them, listen, it's only for now you were going to go to the bullpen in the playoffs anyway and next year, well, you're going to be back in the rotation. But right now where you are from a length standpoint, this actually makes more sense for us. Would that be a better thing for them to do?

[Keith Roth]

Yeah, I think just quality arms are quality arms at this point. They need to because like you said, all those guys, Montas isn't a sure thing for me. But when Senga pitches, he pitches well.

[Don La Greca]

Does pitch well, doesn't pitch long.

[Keith Roth]

Mania, same thing, five innings, one run. That's kind of who Maniah is right now. They're trying to build him back up. Holmes has done that. He's pitched well this year. You know, the only guy right now you feel like you're going to get a good effort from and you're going to get some length, like six, maybe seven innings is Peterson. Outside of that, you're not getting that. You know, last year, remember those, they brought Senga back in the playoffs. I think he started Game 1 against Philadelphia in the NLPS and he pitched two innings. He pitched okay. And then they brought in. It was either Peterson or McGill. They brought in as kind of like his, his caddy.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah.

[Keith Roth]

You know, maybe, maybe that's a role.

[Don La Greca]

Maybe that's.

[Keith Roth]

Listen, you in, in the postseason, you.

[Don La Greca]

You get creative, you're trying to get 27 outs, right? So however you can try to piece that together in the playoffs. But during the regular season, you'd like to be able to avoid having to go to your bullpen constantly. Because in the playoffs you do get those days off, right? You do get those travel days. Like you're not getting 18 straight days without a day off like you do in the regular season. So you can do that, I think in the postseason.

[Keith Roth]

Well, this is twice now and Diaz got out of the inning. So it's six, three. But this is twice in four days that you're going to Diaz for more than a three out save. You don't want to do that. That's not a recipe. I know these are important games, but you don't want to get into that habit with this guy.

[Don La Greca]

And you know, I'm watching the game. Might have caught a break there on the strike three call. That could have been ball four and load the bases. But he got out of it. So he's obviously going to start the night, see if the Mets can get him some insurance. Let's get back to the phones at 1-800-9193776. Let's start it off with Dave in Westchester. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, Dave?

[Caller]

Hey, how are you guys doing?

[Don La Greca]

Good, man.

[Caller]

I just had a problem like with the media. I like Boone a lot. I don't know what these fans want. What do they want him to say? They want him to rip. I'm just gonna hypothetical, you know, Volpe's got 13 errors. Okay. Most of the major leagues, right. What do they want him to say? Well, Volpe, if Bryson hit the home run, Volpe would have cost us another game. Geez, he's trying. He's doing terrible. You know, maybe we should do that. That's what they want him to do. That's going to help Volpe out. What they want? Boom. To rip players in front of them. Nobody knows what Boone is doing behind closed doors. You don't know if he's ripping Volvo behind closed doors. Is he saying, you better pick it Up. Or we might have to say nobody knows nothing.

[Don La Greca]

Well, that's.

[Caller]

He's not going to help the team out.

[Don La Greca]

That's fair. I mean, that. That's fair, Dave, but I wish I had the cup from yesterday where the normal fan.

[Caller]

I worked in sports. So he's not going to do that.

[Don La Greca]

No, I know he's not going to do it. I know he's not going to do it. But there are times he goes a little too far. Like we played the cut yesterday, where he's talking about sometimes the official scoring. I know is the reason why he's getting errors. I mean, come on, just own it a little bit. I'm not. Nobody is expecting him to rip them. This isn't the 1950s where you're holding guys in effort, you know, killing them, hanging them in effigy after games. We get that. But don't go overboard sometimes. And defending them. You can not call out a player. But I can hold them at least a little bit accountable when they make a mistake.

[Caller]

There's a reason why Bobby Knight didn't show up sometimes or blasted the media. Because he's looking at the media. Like every one of these guys knows that no things towards basketball.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah, but you got to realize, how.

[Caller]

Does this guy feel that missed the last shot of the game? Of course. How do you think he feels? He feels terrible. What kind of a question would that be? Like Bobby Knight would just blow you away.

[Don La Greca]

Well, you're also going back to the absolute extreme of Bobby Knight. Nobody's asking you to be like Bobby Knight. But also when you say about. Well, these are the media. Why do I have to talk to these guys? They don't know what they're talking about. The media exists for the fans because the fans want to know what's going on. And the fans can't ask the questions. So the media does listen. I take calls from fans all the time, Dave. They want to know what's going on with Volpe. He's got 13 errors, can't throw the first base. So the idea why I don't have to. I know more. We know you know more. That's why we ask questions. Because we don't know. You know, I don't. That's what. That's the foundation of a question. When I don't know something, I ask if I. If I knew everything, I wouldn't have to ask. So obviously Boone knows more than the media and Boone knows more than the fans. But the fans have a right to know and they have a right to find out. They don't. They don't have access to Boone. The media does. So that's the conduit. The media is the conduit. So when you condescend to the media, you're kind of condescending to the fans. And the fans get aggravated by that. Cuz they spend the money, they watch the post game, and they don't want to hear this from Boone after their shortstop is committed at the time. 12 errors.

[Aaron Boone]

Yeah, I mean, it's a few too many. That said, you know, errors get handed out a lot of different places in a lot of different ways. So I'm not so worried about it. It's making plays. He's still making a lot of plays.

[Don La Greca]

So it's just consistent. Yeah. So fans are like, I don't. I don't need to hear about official scoring and how maybe he hasn't caught break.

[Keith Roth]

Was that a harsh scoring decision last night when he took a routine ground ball and bounced it to Ben Rice? Was that, was that controversial? Was that handed out incorrectly?

[Don La Greca]

No.

[Keith Roth]

No.

[Don La Greca]

And how many times does that happen when Goldschmidt's the first baseman and bails him out of what could be even more.

[Keith Roth]

Listen, major league first baseman should have it.

[Don La Greca]

I get it.

[Keith Roth]

If. But a major league shortstop on a routine ground ball, especially when this has already been an issue, has to make that throw. The caller said we don't know what Boone is doing behind closed doors. That's correct. That's why the doors are closed. We're not on the other side of those doors. What I will say is this, whatever it is that he's doing behind closed doors, and as it pertains to Volpe specifically, because that's who we're talking about, it ain't working. He's regressing. This is year three. He has regressed each and every year. He had a couple of big swings in the playoffs, in the World Series last year, where you thought he would turn a corner. Listen, if he wasn't homegrown playing this position, 21 years old when he came up, local kid. All of those things have factored into a much longer leash than he has deserved, in my opinion. Because it's a good story, it's a good narrative. They want so bad for him to be that guy. That's why he's still here.

[Don La Greca]

It comes from that passion. And yeah, technically we don't know what's happening behind closed doors, but it ain't working. But I could tell you, whatever it is ain't working. And also, Jazz gave us a little indication what happened behind closed doors when Jazz said that Boone told them they're still the best team in baseball. So maybe that tells you that it is a little too positive because they're not the best team in baseball. All right? So if he's telling them that behind closed doors, it sounds. He's skewing positive there, too. All right? And we. Pat and I both get this isn't the days of Bobby Knight, you know, dipping the whip in the. In the water. It's a different. No, he was. He was out of his mind. All right? You can't give me that example. But you were able to rip into players and all, and we get that they're partners now, okay? But at the same time, I just. I want. I want to be treated not as an equal, but at least give me some credit for knowing what I'm watching instead of treating me like an idiot, like I don't have no idea what I'm talking about. And those people. And everybody hates the media. They're a bunch of. Yo. There are people that cover especially baseball that have been doing it longer than Boone's been alive, all right? Now, they may not have as much information as Boone does about the team, but give these guys credit, all right? The John Heymans and the Joel Shermans.

[Keith Roth]

How many baseball games, the Bob Clappishes.

[Don La Greca]

Of the world, they've been around for a long, long time, and they know the game, all right? You may not like them, but they. They. They know the game, and the fans know the game. Believe me, this is not some startup baseball team in a market that's never seen baseball before, all right? Baseball's been around here for over a hundred years, and it's been handed down generation to generation. They may not know as much as Boone, they may not know as much as what's going on in the inner workings of either of these two teams, but give the fans credit. They know baseball. They watch it. They're not all savants, but they're not all dummies, either.

[Keith Roth]

Not to excuse his behavior, but going back to the Bobby Knight example, he also left one important piece of information out. Bobby Knight won. Bobby Knight won three championships. Yankees fans will take one World Series championship from Aaron Boone. Yeah, Bobby Knight did win.

[Don La Greca]

And I think that's why Boone gets beat up a lot, is because he doesn't have the ring. And remember, he replaced a guy that went to game seven of the league championship, overachieved, and they said, we can do better, and we didn't see a World Series. Until last year. And they embarrassed themselves in that world. Let's be honest. They lost in five games. They kicked the ball around in game five in the fifth inning and that's a major reason why they they didn't win the championship. And now it doesn't look like anything has changed. They still have base running errors. They still make errors in the field. They don't look like their baseball IQ is as high as it should be. So the fans are a little bit worried about it. 1-800-919-377643 we got a list. Keith Roth promotes Ozzy's Boneyard is going to join us from Sirius Satellite Radio. Talk a little azi and at 6 o' clock we're gonna have enn. It's all happening here on Don Hanna Rosenberg with Pat o' Keefe on ESPN New York.

[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Pat O'Keefe]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don La Greca]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Pat O'Keefe]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Don La Greca]

There's a lot of sensationalism and there's a lot of leading questions and there's a lot of people that want to go viral with things. So I can't sit there and defend all of the media, Pat. But I consider myself a member of the media. So when I'm critical of the media, I'm being critical of ourselves. But overall, it's a necessity. It's something that's important. It's how we get information out to the fans. And information is a lot more gettable for the fans now, right? So they're able to get their information. All the games are on. I mean, there were times where I had to read the newspaper because the game wasn't available to me. But now every game's on television. I can see it for myself. So definitely the role of the media has changed. But the one thing that never has changed, is never going to change is that conduit, the ability to use our access to get information that fans can't get. And then the way we do that is we have a direct contact to the players and the coaches to ask the questions. And that's always going to be a benefit to the fans in some way, shape or form. And whether the players get irritated or not, that's not our problem. All right? We're not fans. We're not there to coddle them as much as the players sometimes think that we're supposed to be on their side and bringing out the pom poms and making it better for them. No, it's about getting the information, asking the question. And if you're irritated by it, I don't know what to tell you. And in the fans that think that we're worthless or the fans that think that we're not necessary. Well, how would your information change if those questions weren't being asked? How would it. It would change dramatically, everything.

[Keith Roth]

Well, what would it look like? Aaron Boone comes in to that press conference room at Yankee Stadium before every game, after every game. Those are his obligations. If the media was not there, it would essentially be Aaron Boone sitting at that podium talking about whatever he wanted to talk about. He would be leading the conversation. He would be directing the conversation.

[Don La Greca]

Right.

[Keith Roth]

The media needs. He would only be talking about what he wants to talk about. Not everything. With every single good or bad. All right? And the Yankees are a good team, by the way. They're, you know, are they as good as people would like them to be? No, but they're a good team. In. In the context of the entire Major League Baseball. That being said, not everything is always positive. There are always things that you want to know about decisions that were made. Why is a certain player's performance not where it should be? And who else. Who else are you going to ask about Anthony Volpe? Are you going to just. It is confusing and confounding in what he's doing or not doing this year. But who else are you going to ask?

[Don La Greca]

And when the fans feel like you're not telling them the truth, don't blame the media, you know, blame him or blame the guy that's not telling you the truth. And I think that's what frustrates A lot of fans, including Steve and Boon. You're on espn, New York. What's up, Steve?

[Caller]

Hey, guys, thanks for taking the call. First off, do you think Boone the player would punch Boone the coach in the head? I don't really run it. What I'm really saying is, you know, I don't like the Jedi mind trick. You know, don't tell me that three errors has made his defensive efficiency go down 16 points. Don't tell me the same stupid numbers you use to sit Bellinger. The first game of the series. You can switch to make whatever you want. I'm kind of a math guy myself and I'd love to know how they make three plays, get a 16 point swing, and that's where he loses me. Don't rip him. Just tell me the truth.

[Don La Greca]

Yeah, thanks for taking the call. And it's really tough, Steve, because it's almost like a few good men. Well, you can't handle the truth. And that's kind of where it's coming from. And that's where I feel it's. Even though he probably doesn't intend it to be this way, it comes across as condescending. Like you're talking to me as if I couldn't understand otherwise. No, I can understand you're gonna give me the analytic bs and to them it's not bs. But sometimes I think you could doctor those numbers into anything to tell a story. But when you feel like you're not being told the whole story, you're not being told the truth, or you're being talked to like you're five, it's gonna offend people. And I think that's sometimes what happens.

[Keith Roth]

And I would ask, when you say you can't handle the truth, who can't handle it? The media can. And I think it's always easy, like we said. And we'll, we'll concede this. As members of the media, we do not know as much about baseball as Aaron Boone. We're not third generation major league baseball families. We're not equipped to be major league baseball managers. We know a lot about baseball. We've watched a lot of games. We've covered the sport. We don't know as much about him. I can see that doesn't mean we don't know anything about the sport. It doesn't mean that when he explains why something went astray, we're not going to understand it. So when you say you can't handle the truth, is it the player who can't handle the truth?

[Don La Greca]

It's probably the Player that can't handle the truth. And we've seen that. And I will go to my grave believing that. The reason why Joe Girardi was fired was his handling of Gary Sanchez. He did not tolerate Sanchez's mistakes. He let the media know it. He let Sanchez know it. Sanchez survived, Girardi didn't. And the ironic thing is Sanchez ended up surviving either. Yep.

[Keith Roth]

How'd that work out?

[Don La Greca]

I really believe that. I've had people think, no, no, no. I'm not saying it was one thing, but I think that was the main thing. And that's why I think you see Boone always having his players back. And that's why I believe that that also happens behind closed doors. Because sometimes you gotta. You gotta coach these guys, and sometimes it's tough love. But when guys are making way more money than the manager and they want to be able to control now the narrative, that, that changes everything.

[Keith Roth]

It's not just Boone's players whose back he has. It's also the players who Brian Cashman brought in. So if you're criticizing their performance, you're criticizing the performance of the guys who Brian Cashman handpicked for this roster.

[Don La Greca]

Right. And also, when you look at the way things are going, management has boons back because they defend him by just re upping his contract despite having not won a championship. And clearly, Hal's got Cashman's back, they.

[Keith Roth]

Have each other's backs are tied.

[Don La Greca]

They circle the wagons. As Chris Berman would say about the Bills. Nobody circles the wagons better than the Buffalo Bills. Well, Yankees do a good job circling the wagons, too. Call them in the Bronx. You're on espn. New York. What's up, man?

[Caller]

What's going on, Don? Pat. So really quick, before I get into the Suarez point, at this point, there's nothing you could do with Opie. I think we're all in agreement. He is going to be the shortstop. They're not going to make a move.

[Don La Greca]

They don't have another choice. They have no choice.

[Caller]

They have no other choice. And ultimately, he did have a very good playoff run, you know, last year.

[Don La Greca]

Yes, he did.

[Caller]

Playoff performance was very good. You know, Jazz Chisholm was. Was atrocious in the playoffs. You know, Austin Wells was terrible. So, I mean, like. And you know, Aaron Judge has been known to be not good. So, I mean, like, there's not a lot of people you have a lot of hope for in the playoffs. He showed in his first time ever in the playoffs that he was pretty productive.

[Don La Greca]

So. But I think there's the Bag like the Thing column and thank you for the phone call. I don't think anybody in their right mind wants Volpe gone. We just want an acknowledgment that it's not what we thought it was going to be because it's going to be hard to go find a shortstop. And nobody wants him benched because they don't have an alternative at shortstop. But that doesn't mean we can't be critical of him. Anybody that wants him gone did not pay attention. What was he, Rookie of the Year? Gold Glove? He was great in the postseason last year. I don't think anybody wants to throw him away, but I think they have the right to be at least a little concerned about what they're seeing. 13 errors. Yeah, he hits, but not. That's the effectiveness that we thought he was going to hit.

[Keith Roth]

No, I'm looking now. His OPS rookie year where he struggled was.666 last year OPS657 this year, 675. No, it's at a certain point you.

[Don La Greca]

Are who you are. Yeah. And maybe that's the scary thing because there were a lot of shortstops available. Oh, we don't want to landlock Volpe. We were kind of sold a bill of goods that he was going to. We had two of them.

[Keith Roth]

They don't want to. It was either Volpe or Perazza.

[Don La Greca]

Right.

[Keith Roth]

They're both still here. That's the left side of the infield.

[Don La Greca]

Neither can hit. No. And now Volpe is not defending.

[Keith Roth]

Right.

[Don La Greca]

That's a problem. Eric Church is coming to Barclays center on Saturday, September 20th. ESPN New York has your chance to score tickets on the ESPN New York app and ESPNNewYork.com just find the contest tile and submit your entry. Tickets are on sale now. Head to ericchurch.com for more information. All right, we got lots coming up. More your calls. Get into football, too, as we've got information on the Giants. They've got themselves a quarterback and it's no real surprise. A list at 4:30 enn at 6. It's Don Hanna Rosenberg with Pato Keef until 7 right here on ESPN News.

[Pat O'Keefe]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't want to know how the sausage is made, but I just want to know it's good.

[Pat O'Keefe]

Hear more of Don Allen and Peter Weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.