I’M A YANKEE FAN, BUT WILL FLEMMING WASN’T WRONG ABOUT JAZZ

I’m a Yankee fan.

Not casually. Not when they’re winning. I’ve been writing Bleeding Yankee Blue since 2010, and if you’ve read this blog for five minutes, you know exactly where my allegiance sits.

But apparently we’ve reached the point in society where being a fan means surrendering your common sense.

Sorry.

I’m not doing it.

Jazz Chisholm stealing second and then third with the Yankees up 7-1 in the eighth inning against the Red Sox was bush league.

There. I said it.

And apparently Will Flemming said it too.

The Red Sox broadcaster watched Jazz swipe two bags with Boston essentially waving the white flag and lost his shit. He called it bush league, said Jazz was playing the game the wrong way and then went too far by talking about drilling Austin Wells and suggesting somebody should fight Jazz.

Was that smart? Hell no. Flemming made the mistake of saying the quiet part out loud. You’re the broadcaster, Will. You have a microphone. Thousands of people are listening. Maybe don't provide the play-by-play for baseball retaliation. That's amateur hour.

But here's where everybody needs to calm the hell down: Flemming wasn't wrong about the baseball. He was wrong about broadcasting what should have stayed unspoken.

There's a difference. And somewhere along the way we've lost the ability to understand that difference. Everything now requires outrage. An apology. A statement. A clarification of the statement. Then an apology for the clarification.

Jesus Christ. Sometimes a guy gets pissed off and says something stupid. Flemming apologized afterward. Fine but he shouldn't have.   

Maybe:

"I shouldn't have said that on the air." Done. Because what exactly are we pretending happened here?

The Yankees were beating Boston 7-1 in the eighth. The Red Sox weren't even holding Jazz on. The game was cooked. Jazz took second. Then he took third.

Was it legal? Absolutely. Was Aaron Boone giving him the green light? Yes, but that's just bad managing. Was it necessary? Give me a break. That's where baseball etiquette comes in.

Not everything that's legal needs to be done. Baseball has always had a language underneath the language.

Guys know. Dugouts know. Managers know. Fans know. You don't need a committee meeting to figure it out. You need a look. A nod. And then you handle your business within the game.

That's what Flemming apparently forgot. Nod and handle it. Every Red Sox player in that dugout should have been thinking exactly what Flemming was thinking. Every one of them. But the Red Sox didn't do a thing and I find that weird. The rivalry is dead. 

Flemming had the microphone and decided to narrate the inner monologue. That's the stupid part. The thought wasn't shocking. Saying it publicly was.

And spare me the pearl-clutching afterward. We have become so terrified of offending somebody that grown adults apparently need emotional bubble wrap every time somebody says something harsh.

This is Yankees-Red Sox. What the hell are we doing? These teams aren't supposed to exchange friendship bracelets. They're supposed to dislike each other. They're supposed to get pissed off. They're supposed to remember things. They're supposed to have some damn pride. That's what made this rivalry great in the first place.

And let's remember something else: Flemming is a Red Sox broadcaster. He's passionate about his team. He watched his club getting embarrassed by its biggest rival and watched Jazz dancing around the bases while it happened.

He reacted. Poorly? Sure. Humanly? Absolutely. Hell, passion is why Bleeding Yankee Blue exists. I didn't start writing this blog because I wanted to carefully workshop every sentence until nobody on planet Earth could possibly be offended.

I started it because I love the Yankees. Sometimes I get pissed. Sometimes fans get pissed. Sometimes broadcasters get pissed. That's sports. We've sanitized enough of society already. We don't need to sanitize Yankees-Red Sox too. And Yankee fans need to be capable of admitting when our guy looks like an ass.

I like Jazz. I love the energy. But stealing two bases up six runs in the eighth inning when the opponent isn't even bothering to hold you?

Come on, Jazz. That's a bitch move. And I don't care if Boone gave him the green light. Boone was wrong too. Being a Yankee fan doesn't require me to pretend everything a Yankee does is wonderful. Baseball deserves more respect than that.

There used to be an understanding in sports that you beat somebody, shake hands and move on. You didn't need to humiliate them just because technically there wasn't a rule preventing you from doing it.

And if somebody crossed that line? The other team remembered.  A nod. Message received. We'll remember.

That my friends is baseball.

So yes, Will Flemming screwed up. He had a microphone in front of his face and forgot that some things in baseball aren't supposed to be broadcast to the world.

Amateur move. But stop pretending the guy committed some unforgivable sin because he got pissed off during Yankees-Red Sox. And stop pretending Jazz didn't know exactly what he was doing.

He did.

The Yankees won 16-1. They beat the hell out of Boston. That should have been enough. Sometimes winning is the message. You don't need to underline it, circle it and draw a middle finger next to it.

Jazz should've stayed on the bag. And everybody else? Stop being so damn soft.  It's baseball.

Act like you've been here before.

STOP BLAMING CABALLERO. THE YANKEES COULDN’T SCORE

I’m seeing a lot of attention being thrown at Jose Caballero after the Yankees got embarrassed by the Angels Monday night.

Yes, Caballero made an error. Yes, it was ugly. But can we please tell the whole story?

When Caballero botched the potential double-play ball in the sixth inning, the Yankees were already losing 6-1. His mistake allowed another run to score and made it 7-1.

So, explain something to me. How exactly did Jose Caballero lose this game? Were the Yankees suddenly going to score six runs if he fielded that ball cleanly?

Because they didn't. They scored one run the entire night.

One.

Spencer Jones hit a solo homer in the fifth inning. That was it. The Yankees finished with six hits, didn't draw a walk and went quietly against Angels rookie Walbert Ureña, who gave them seven innings of one-run baseball.

And let's remember what happened before Caballero's sixth-inning error.

Elmer Rodríguez had already put the Yankees in a 4-0 hole. The Angels made it 5-1 in the fifth. Then Michael Fulmer's errant pickoff attempt helped another run score.

It was 6-1 before Caballero made the error everybody wants to talk about.

That's context. Caballero deserves criticism for playing sloppy defense. Absolutely. He'd probably tell you the same thing. But blaming him for a 10-1 loss is ridiculous.

The Yankees didn't lose because their shortstop booted a ball while they were already getting blown out.

They lost because they couldn't hit. They couldn't score. And they couldn't give themselves even the slightest chance to win.

You don't beat anybody scoring one run.

Stop looking for a convenient scapegoat. Jose Caballero didn't lose this game. The Yankees offense did. Get over it.

REPORT: BOONE’S SEAT IS GETTING WARM. GOOD.

For years, the Yankees have sold us the Aaron Boone résumé. Winning seasons. Playoff appearances. Great clubhouse. Players love him.

Wonderful. Where’s the championship?

Now Jon Heyman reports that Boone may finally be on “slightly less steady ground,” with his future potentially depending on what happens this October.

And it’s about time. Boone has managed the Yankees since 2018. He’s won plenty of games. He finally reached the World Series in 2024. But here’s the only number Yankees fans really care about:

ZERO championships.

That’s not being unfair. It's a fact. That’s being a Yankee fan. This isn’t a franchise where simply making the playoffs earns you a parade. Boone has had Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, big payrolls and plenty of opportunities.

At some point, almost has to stop being good enough. I don't hate Aaron Boone. I think he's a bad manager that does not command respect.

Nine years without a championship in New York? Come on. The Yankees haven't won it all since 2009. Boone has been given plenty of runway to change that.

So maybe his seat really is getting warmer. Good.

Win No. 28. That's the job.

YANKEES CLAIM JOHN SCHREIBER — AND THIS ONE MIGHT ACTUALLY HELP

The Yankees are digging through the waiver wire again, but this time I’m not rolling my eyes.

New York claimed veteran right-hander John Schreiber off waivers from the Kansas City Royals Monday, adding another arm to a bullpen that needs all the help it can get heading into September.

Schreiber, 32, leaves Kansas City with a 1-3 record, 3.65 ERA and one save in 55 appearances this season. Over 49.1 innings, he's allowed 41 hits, walked 22 and struck out 36, posting a 1.28 WHIP.

Those strikeout and walk numbers don't exactly scream Mariano Rivera. But dig a little deeper and there's something here.

Since April 19, Schreiber owns a 3.14 ERA over 43 innings, and he's been absolutely nasty against right-handed hitters, holding them to a ridiculous .143/.184/.231 slash line this season.

That's where I see the value.

This isn't your eighth-inning savior. This isn't David Bednar insurance. And nobody should be fitting Schreiber for a Monument Park plaque.

But he's a veteran reliever who can get right-handed hitters out, absorb innings and give Aaron Boone another legitimate matchup option instead of simply throwing somebody out there and hoping for the best.

And unlike some of Brian Cashman's famous dumpster-diving experiments, Schreiber actually has a track record. He's pitched in 327 major-league games with Detroit, Boston and Kansas City and owns a career 3.65 ERA.

Here's the concern: the strikeouts are down. Schreiber has only 36 K's in 49.1 innings, while walking 22. That's not exactly overpowering stuff, and in Yankee Stadium, putting runners on base and hoping for soft contact can turn ugly pretty quickly.

But as a September bullpen piece?

I'll take it.

The Yankees didn't acquire a star Monday. They acquired a useful veteran with one particularly valuable weapon: he gets righties out. Sometimes that's enough. And considering some of the bullpen roulette we've watched this season, I'll happily take "useful."

Welcome to the Bronx, John. Just throw strikes. We'll take it from there.

A GIL-VANIZED BULLPEN: YANKEES RECALL LUIS GIL TO SAVE THE DAY

The Yankees need backup in a big way as they continue to work through their injury plague. So the next man up is Luis Gil. Now it is time to ask yourself if that makes you feel safer or uneasy.

Either answer would be valid because you wouldn't be wrong. Let's just hope it pays off. Gil is back. He completed a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a relief role. His recovery journey started in the bullpen where he allows two hits, recorded two strikeouts over three innings pitched. He did enough to give the Yankees confidence to call him back up to the majors and now we hope that trend continues back in the majors.

If there was ever a time to get back into the Yankees circle of trust, it is now. Gil started the season as a starter but was plagued with injuries and consistency. Now the Yankees have a short amount of time left int he regular season and need reinforcements now that Fernando Cruz and Ryan Weathers have hit the Injured List. The Yankees need all the help they can get to make a final postseason push as they try to keep their distance from the Red Sox in the Wild Card and hopefully take the division back from the Rays.

Now the Yankees make a west coast swing with the Angels waiting starting today. After that, the Yankees will travel to take on the San Diego Padres. Now if Gil can give the Yankees some length without giving up runs the Yankees will be in a much better spot and can walk away feeling better about their continued injury woes. But that could be a big IF. I really want to see Gil come out of this with some renewed confidence and consistency to help us get over the hump. As the regular season winds down, the Yankees still have time to climb the standings but every game matters. Every appearance from Gil (and everyone else) matters.

So it's reunion time. Now we get to see what Gil can do when the pressure is on. It's time to contribute and save the bullpen as we all hold our breath and watch. Welcome back Gil, let's finish the regular season off strong.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

YANKEES BEAT THE HELL OUT OF BOSTON—AND THIS ONE MATTERED

Now that looked like a Yankee team ready for October.

The Yankees didn’t just beat Boston Sunday. They embarrassed them, 16-1, taking three of four in the Bronx and winning the season series 7-6. That also gives New York the all-important tiebreaker over the Red Sox. And suddenly, the Wild Card picture looks a whole lot better.

Will Warren picked the perfect day to pitch his best game of the season, going seven-plus innings and allowing just one run. Then there was Heliot Ramos, a guy Yankee fans have been waiting on since he arrived. Ramos finally delivered, crushing a three-run homer for his first bomb in pinstripes.

After that, Boston basically waved the white flag.

Austin Wells went deep twice, Paul Goldschmidt homered, José Caballero homered and the Yankees turned the eighth inning into batting practice. Boston eventually had an infielder pitching. That's when you know you've beaten the hell out of somebody.

The Yankees are now four games ahead of Boston for the top AL Wild Card spot, and because they own the tiebreaker, that advantage feels even bigger.

Look, one series doesn't erase every concern we've had about this team. But it's almost September. Boston came to town. The games mattered.

And the Yankees kicked their ass. I'll take it.

LOMBARD BROUGHT THE SPARK. NOW WE NEED HIM HEALTHY.

Just when George Lombard Jr. was starting to put his fingerprints all over this Yankee team, Yankee fans got a scare Saturday night.

And it happened on a seemingly harmless play.

During the second inning of the Yankees' 9-2 win over Boston, Lombard checked his swing on a 2-2 pitch from Brayan Bello. Something didn't look right. Lombard grimaced and grabbed at his right knee, prompting Aaron Boone and the Yankees' training staff to come out and check on him.

But Lombard stayed in. In fact, he singled on the very next pitch.

He even came to the plate again in the third inning, but by then the Yankees could see the knee was bothering him. Boone later explained that watching Lombard run down the line didn't look right, so the Yankees weren't taking chances. Lombard did not return to shortstop for the fourth inning and was sent to NewYork-Presbyterian for imaging.

Thankfully, the early news appears encouraging. Boone said after the game that the initial indication was that Lombard's injury was a day-to-day situation, though the Yankees were still waiting for complete clarification.

That's a relief if it's actually true. The Yankees have a way of giving wrong information through Boone, so I feel hopeful, but who knows. Here's the thing, Lombard has become much more important to this team than his numbers suggest. He's changed the energy.

There's an aggressiveness to his game. There's speed, athleticism and confidence. He makes things happen. Since arriving in the Bronx, Lombard has brought a different feel to a Yankee team that desperately needed some life.

Sure, there have been errors. Who cares? Look beyond them. He's a kid. Look at the talent. Look at the range. Look at the way he runs the bases. Look at the confidence. Most importantly, look at the energy that seems to follow him around the field.

This kid can play. That's what makes Saturday night's injury so unfortunate. The Yankees finally injected some young, exciting talent into this roster, Lombard grabbed the opportunity, and suddenly we're talking about his knee instead of everything he's been bringing to the ballclub.

Hopefully this is nothing more than a brief interruption.

But whether Lombard misses a game, a few games or whatever the Yankees decide is necessary, don't suddenly change the conversation about him.

Don't let a few errors define him. Don't forget what happened to the energy of this team when he arrived. And definitely don't give up on George Lombard Jr.

The Yankees have something here. Something special. Now get that knee healthy and get back out there, kid.

The Yankees are simply more fun with you in the lineup.

SCHLITTLER SLAMS THE DOOR ON BOSTON

Sometimes you don’t need 10 runs. Sometimes you just need Cam Schlittler.

The Yankees beat the Red Sox 1-0 Friday night, and Schlittler was the story. The kid went 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowed just two hits and struck out eight, while picking up his 200th strikeout of the season. His ERA dropped to an AL-best 2.09.

And against Boston? Even sweeter.

The only offense came from Paul Goldschmidt, who launched a solo homer in the third inning. From there, the Yankees protected that one lousy run like it was the last cannoli at Sunday dinner.

Cody Bellinger made the play of the night, firing a 99.7 mph strike from left field to nail Ceddanne Rafaela at the plate and preserve the lead. David Bednar handled the ninth for save No. 31.

Final: Yankees 1, Red Sox 0.

Not pretty. Not explosive.

But beating Boston behind Schlittler?

Beautiful.

GEORGE LOMBARD JR. IS FINE. LET THE KID ADJUST.

Can we please stop doing this?

George Lombard Jr. makes a few errors and suddenly people are examining the kid like he's been playing shortstop in the Bronx for five years.

He's 21. He's been here for about five minutes. And quite frankly, George Lombard Jr. has been one of the most refreshing things to happen to this Yankees team all season.

The kid has energy. He has confidence. He has range. He has an arm. He moves like an actual shortstop. And we've already watched him get to baseballs that Yankees infielders weren't getting to earlier this year.

Paul O'Neill has noticed it too.

O'Neill has praised Lombard's natural defensive ability on YES and essentially told everyone to relax about the recent errors. He's talked about the plays Lombard can make, his range and his ability to handle the position.

I'll take Paul O'Neill's eyes over somebody counting errors on a stat sheet after two weeks.

And here's the other thing:

STOP TRYING TO TURN GEORGE LOMBARD JR. INTO ANTHONY VOLPE.

Seriously. Stop. This isn't about Volpe. This is about Lombard. They're different players. Different circumstances. Different skill sets. Different stories.

Every time Lombard makes an error, we don't need a referendum on Yankee shortstops. The Yankees shouldn't panic. The fans shouldn't panic. And Lombard certainly shouldn't start playing scared because everybody suddenly expects perfection from a kid who was in the minor leagues a few weeks ago.

Want to know what young players do?

They screw up. Then they adjust. Then they get better. That's baseball.

One of Lombard's recent mistakes came down to something as simple as glove positioning. That's not some catastrophic revelation that the kid can't field. That's a mechanical mistake.

You fix it. You move on. What you can't teach nearly as easily is the stuff Lombard already has. Range. Arm strength. Athleticism. Instinct. Confidence.

That's the package I'm interested in.

And there's something else about Lombard that doesn't show up in a box score. The Yankees look comfortable with him out there. He looks comfortable being there. There isn't that feeling that everybody is holding their breath waiting for something to happen.

He's playing baseball. Let him. That's what has made Lombard such a breath of fresh air. He's young. He's exciting. He's aggressive. And he carries himself like a kid who believes he belongs in the Bronx.

Will there be growing pains? Of course. We have stated that here at Bleeding Yankee Blue. There damn well better be. He's 21 years old. If we're expecting a finished major-league shortstop two weeks into his career, the problem isn't George Lombard Jr.

It's our expectations. So enough with the panic. Enough with counting every error. And please, enough with the Volpe comparisons. Let George Lombard Jr. be George Lombard Jr.

The talent is there. The confidence is there. The Yankees are behind him. Now give the kid some time. He's going to be just fine. And I have a feeling we're going to be watching him make plays in the Bronx for a very long time.

YANKEES CHECK IN ON ZACK LITTELL

Of course the Yankees checked in on Zack Littell. Brian Cashman apparently can't drive past the pitching clearance rack without stopping.

Littell was released by Arizona after a rough stint, and suddenly the Yankees are sniffing around. Because nothing screams pennant race like, “Hey, maybe Matt Blake can fix him.”

Look, the Yankees need pitching depth. I get it. Littell has experience and can eat innings.

But we've seen this movie before. Cashman finds a discarded arm, hands it to Blake and hopes he turns a pumpkin into Gerrit Cole.

Maybe Littell helps.

Maybe he doesn't.

But somewhere, Cashman is clipping another coupon.

Stay tuned on this one.

ARM-AGEDDON?

And the hits just keep on coming, huh? We can't catch a break. Just when we think it's getting better the other shoe drops. The rug is ripped out from under us. Pick a cliche, any cliche you like because ladies and gentlemen that is exactly where we are as we inch closer and closer to September.

I guess we could go with "There's always next year" or "We can chase number 28 in 2027" for right now. The state of the Yankees pitching staff is arm-ageddon right now. My heart sank when Max Fried hit the injured list, and as much as we don't need to see another arm like Fernando Cruz suffer the same fate I'm not surprised. I am tired of it though.

This team just doesn't demonstrate fundamentals or execute like other top teams in the league. We can't stay healthy. When our starting pitchers get past the fourth inning it feels like a miracle. Our starters can't get deep into games and then our relievers are coming into games too often and expected to clean up the mess that was left for them and eventually it catches up to guys. That could be what happened to Cruz.

Back in April, May and June, Aaron Boone was running him out on the mound constantly. His early success earned him a setup role to David Bednar and lately, he's looked like a shell of himself. The splitter doesn't split like it did, the fastball isn't as fast and the slider doesn't move the same. He's already pitched 54.2 innings this season, and his career high was 66.2 innings. He's 36 and not a young spring chicken anymore. We've seen it with the home runs he's given up and blown leads recently.

And this is why Brian Cashman needed to add stability at the trade deadline and find us some fresh arms. He failed. The Yankees are failing, because they aren't meeting expectations. They are in danger of falling further in the standings because the Yankees have four critical games this weekend against the Red Sox, who have magically come back to life and chasing down the Yankees in the Wild Card race. 

If the Red Sox pass the Yankees in the Wild Card race, I won't be able to accept that. NONE of us should. This team isn't what it should be. Everything needs to be torn down to the studs and built back up otherwise it is the same old dance.

Will arm-ageddon be the Yankees final nail in their coffin? I hope not....but this season has been exhausting.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

WHEN REGGIE MET THURMAN

There are teammates who become friends immediately.

Then there were Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson.

When Reggie arrived in the Bronx before the 1977 season, the Yankees were already Munson’s team. Thurman was the captain, the reigning American League MVP, and the heartbeat of a club that had just gone to the World Series. Reggie arrived as something entirely different.

He was the superstar free-agent signing. He was outspoken. He was confident. He was controversial. And most importantly, he wasn't interested in quietly blending into the wallpaper. In other words, George Steinbrenner had just thrown another stick of dynamite into a clubhouse that already had Billy Martin walking around with a match.

And then came the quote.

In a 1977 Sport magazine article, Jackson was famously quoted describing himself as “the straw that stirs the drink,” while suggesting Munson could only stir it bad.

Whether Reggie believed he was quoted accurately or not almost didn't matter. The words were in print. Munson read them. And the captain was furious. This wasn't some anonymous teammate Jackson had taken a shot at. Munson had spent his entire major-league career with the Yankees. He had caught countless games on battered knees, taken foul balls off every imaginable body part and helped drag New York back to the World Series in 1976.

Then the new guy showed up and, before he'd accomplished anything in pinstripes, appeared to tell the world whose team it was.

That went over about as well as you'd expect.

Welcome to the Yankees, Reggie. Meet Thurman.

The relationship became one of the many soap operas surrounding the 1977 Yankees. Jackson battled with Martin. Munson resented the attention surrounding Jackson. The clubhouse had factions. Steinbrenner hovered over everything.

Yet something strange happened while everybody was waiting for the Yankees to implode. They won, and winning has a funny way of forcing two great players to recognize something they may not particularly want to admit:

I need that guy.

Munson could look beyond Reggie's personality and see an enormously talented baseball player who could help the Yankees win championships. Jackson could look beyond Thurman's hostility and understand why that clubhouse followed its captain. Their personalities were completely different, but their objective wasn't.

There are stories of the two finally clearing the air, including a memorable conversation in a sauna. It didn't magically turn them into childhood buddies. This wasn't a Hollywood movie where the music swelled and suddenly Reggie and Thurman skipped into Yankee Stadium holding hands.

It was something more believable. They developed respect. And for two intensely competitive men, respect probably meant more than friendship anyway.

Munson saw Jackson deliver when the Yankees needed him most. Reggie saw exactly what made Munson the captain—the toughness, the leadership and the willingness to play hurt without asking anybody to feel sorry for him.

By the time Jackson earned the name “Mr. October” with his three-home-run performance in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series, there wasn't much left to debate about whether Reggie belonged in New York. And Munson didn't need Jackson's approval to prove who he was either.

Thurman had already earned the Bronx. Their relationship continued to evolve. Jackson reportedly even flew with Munson in Thurman's plane, and accounts over the years have described Reggie affectionately referring to Munson as “Coach.” Think about how remarkable that is considering where these two started.

From a newspaper quote that nearly poisoned the clubhouse to two men eventually understanding each other. Not perfectly. Not sentimentally. But genuinely.

Then came August 2, 1979. Munson was killed while practicing takeoffs and landings in his Cessna Citation near Canton, Ohio. He was only 32.

Suddenly all those arguments, headlines and clubhouse battles didn't seem very important anymore.

What remained was the respect.

And maybe that's the part of the Reggie Jackson–Thurman Munson story worth remembering most.

They didn't have to be best friends. They didn't even have to particularly like each other at first. They were two enormous personalities fighting for space inside the craziest baseball clubhouse in America. But somewhere between the arguments, the championships, the back pages and the October nights, they figured each other out.

Thurman was the captain. Reggie was Mr. October.

The Bronx was big enough for both of them. And in the end, they knew it. Rest in peace, Captain.

Thurman Munson — June 7, 1947 – August 2, 1979. Nearly five decades later, No. 15 still belongs to him.

-- Alvin Izzo
BYB Yankee History Contributor