BOONE & THE YANKEES NEED TO STOP WITH THE EXCUSES & START WINNING!!

There's just too much going wrong. This team has been freefalling for too long and something's gotta give. I just can't take it anymore. At some point, this team has to pick themselves up and stop dropping series.... or changes need to happen.

But realistically, the changes that NEED to happen, won't. There needs to be some accountability here, for everyone. There needs to be some real leadership here, but that has been lacking for a while. I've never felt like Aaron Boone was a capable leader. Whenever he speaks, I lose my mind because it's just Boone babble, it's infuriating, and it makes no sense. Now I feel like it is infecting everyone.

I'm glad that even though Gerrit Cole didn't have the best outing, the Yankees got the last laugh and won the game on Saturday. I know Cole is still finding his groove after coming off the Injured List. He's an accomplished Cy Young winner and I know he will get in his rhythm but for now, I don't want to hear the excuses.

"Today was really hot, and at times I had trouble gripping the ball. But I thought I threw the ball pretty well, to be honest," Cole said. "Pitch count got run up … but through it all, made a lot of good pitches. I got as deep as I could, but it was a grind," read more HERE.

Yup, it was hot. Ask the Red Sox, they had the same weather to contend with. Guess what? It's summer, and the heat is gonna be worse some days than others. The same goes for cold weather conditions in April or October when pitchers have cold hands and still have to grip the ball. It's part of the game. This is where conditioning is important and he's still working on that.....but don't give me excuses. There's no room for it, we get enough from Boonie. 

Speaking of Boonie's excuses and babble, he had plenty of it. "I thought Gerrit was all right. I thought his stuff was pretty good," Boone said. "It was really hot, and I think that took its toll, especially the at-bats they took against him in the first couple of innings. He had I think 40 pitches after two, up over 60 after three. And I think that took its toll, without question. But I thought he made a lot of really good pitches, and I thought his stuff was there. … But they just kind of wore him down and outlasted him a little bit to get him out of there [for] a shorter day."

Someone has to stand up and be a leader here! We already know we aren't going to get it from Boonie, so we need our veterans to stand up and make some changes. It's obvious this team isn't feeling good about themselves, nothing they do screams confidence, especially Cole's quote. When you don't feel good about what you are doing, you can't expect good things to happen. If there are no leaders ready to stand up and right the ship then we are going to sink again. Where is the leadership?

Honestly, all Cole should've said was he just didn't have his best stuff on Saturday. No excuses. We all saw it. The pitch count elevated quickly, and it just wasn't the start we expect to see from our ace. Bad starts do happen. Just say Saturday wasn't his best but he's looking forward to the next one and put it behind you. Stop with the excuses.... it's not helping you, the team or the fans watching this disgusting freefall.

I'm not mad that Cole didn't have the best start. That's part of the game. Stop making excuses. Excuses are like arseholes, everyone has one! And winning teams don't make excuses, they take accountability and make changes and move ahead. Show me that team, please.... before it's too late.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj