David Cone explaining Yankees fans’ boos is what everyone needs to hear

Every opposing fan’s favorite thing to say for the past few years is that New York Yankees fans are “spoiled.” Spoiled how? Because 25 years ago we had a “dynasty” and the franchise has the longest active winning record streak in North American sports (1993-present day)?

On the surface, some are right to a degree. Not many other fanbases get to experience such a period of sustained stability. It rarely happens. And those fans would also be right because the Yankees have been to the playoffs 24 of the last 28 seasons. Fans of less successful/smaller market teams would die for consistent (or even consecutive) playoff berths.

So, yes, when you boil it down to how inherently torturous sports are and how less considerate other billionaires are when running these operations, Yankees fans are indeed “spoiled.”

But that’s not the context we’re talking about here. Opposing fans actually believe the Yankees are spoiled and entitled because they pay so close attention that they have the ability to hold players and decision makers accountable.

What did anyone expect during the ALCS sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros? The Yankees put forth an historically bad performance. One of the worst offensive outputs in MLB postseason history. Everybody who picked up a bat deserved to be booed in some capacity. Even Yankees broadcaster David Cone agrees.

Everyone needs to hear David Cone’s response to Yankees fans’ boos

This is a man who watches every Yankee game. He broadcasts about half of them. He’s tuned in to exactly what’s going on at every turn. He was a former Yankee. He understands the stakes, expectations, and emotions that come with New York fandom.

He wasn’t exactly endorsing the boos (we’re not either!) but he’s also saying such an act, after what the fans were forced to witness, is far from egregious. It’s the natural response. And anonymous players claiming it was “especially brutal” to hear the boos? It was especially brutal for the fans to watch New York bat .173 with a .579 OPS with 103 strikeouts in nine games. Those were, by far, the worst stats of any team that played at least seven postseason games this October.

It’s just funny because it seems the same crowd that says “f— your feelings” is somehow also the crowd claiming boos are too harsh on a player. So which is it? Is it “f— your feelings only when I think so”?

Aaron Judge, chief among all, probably didn’t “deserve” to get booed. He had an MVP regular season and carried this team to a division title, which got them to where they were. But that wasn’t the end goal. Wasn’t even close to it. So when everything came crashing down in the most important series against one of the Yankees’ most hated rivals, it was only instinctive for fans to be frustrated and unhappy.

These weren’t aimless boos as a result of the “championship or bust” mentality. They were a reasonable reaction for what’s happened for the last 13 years and, more specifically, since the start of the 2018 season.

3 reasons Aaron Judge has every right to leave Yankees in free agency

The New York Yankees probably need to retain Aaron Judge to remain a contender. But he has good reason to leave in free agency, sadly.