The single dumbest moment of the Yankees' dumbest loss of the 2025 season

Monday night's 1-0 Yankees loss to the Angels in the Bronx wasn't a season-killer. It wasn't determinative of the bigger picture. It wasn't the end of the road. But it was wholly, excruciatingly dumb.

It was also the loss I'd frame and keep on my mantel and show to any visitors who wondered, "What was it like, sir, when the Aaron Boone Yankees were at their absolute worst?" I'd then point at the loss and spend 45-55 minutes describing in gory detail exactly what went wrong, why it seemed to go wrong so often, and why my guests weren't allowed to touch the canapés until I was done screaming.

You might have a different "favorite" infuriating moment of Monday night's Yankees loss, which felt like a three-hour prostate exam. Constant clenching. No release. Somehow, a game with just a single run scored ended up stretching on endlessly instead of wrapping quickly. There was heroic pitching on the part of both starters, with Jose Soriano matching Clarke Schmidt less than two weeks after Soriano blew up at Fenway Park and ignited the Red Sox recent run. There was emptiness in innings three through eight. There was Anthony Volpe fouling off a ball on a perfect Jasson Dominguez steal attempt, then grounding one directly into his head the next time he took off. There was Jazz Chisholm's "What If, Instead of a Bunt, I Just Whiff Swinging Thrice?" play against Kenley Jansen. There was Volpe pulling off a breaker with the bases loaded and two outs, or Cody Bellinger hitting a "walk-off three run homer" that died short of the short porch, or Paul Goldschmidt taking off for home on a nubber to second when he could've scored on the very next play.

But, for my money — and I love my money, I don't want to give any of it to a sh-tty baseball play — DJ LeMahieu's 10th-inning AB takes the cake. Was it a bunt attempt? Was it an interpretive dance? Who's to say?

And would you believe ... this might not have even been LeMahieu's dumbest bunt of the past two games?

DJ LeMahieu's failed bunt vs. Angels made Yankees fans feel like they were entering June Swoon mode

Chisholm swinging from his heels in the ninth was understandable. You're trying to win the baseball game. There's no one out in the ninth. Impact the baseball in the gap once and the game is over. Aggravating, but defensible.

But, once you're in extra innings, and once Jonathan Loaisiga has brilliantly and improbably escaped the top of the 10th without the runner on second advancing, let alone scoring (we call that a "Yankees," folks), all you need is the one run. And you need to make it easy on yourself.

Thank goodness, then, that the Yankees had the luxury of LeMahieu, their most experienced batsman, at the plate in that situation. All he had to do was move the final out of the ninth, Austin Wells, over to third base, giving Trent Grisham a chance to knock him in with an out. All he had to do. LeMahieu is no longer a great hitter. But he is trustworthy. He won't swing out of his shoes. He'll hit the ball directionally. He'll play station-to-station. He won't try to do too much.

On Monday night, he tried to do too much.

First pitch from Ryan Zeferjahn and his 5.00+ ERA? Foul bunt to the right side. Second pitch? Ball in the other box, pulled back the bunt. Third pitch? BUNT IS GONE. Dribbler in front of the plate — looked like a bunt, wasn't — that rolled foul. Now, LeMahieu can't bunt on two strikes. But should he? Should he trust himself enough to risk a heart-stopping foul tip K? Zeferjahn wasn't showing much. Was there any reason to believe he couldn't maneuver the baseball where he wanted to, given one more chance?

After checking the signs multiple times, he swung through a low-quality breaking ball. Grisham flew out deep into left-center field. The game would've been won. The Yankees would've just finished off one of the lowest-effort walk-offs in their franchise's history. They would've been victorious in a game you wouldn't have told your own son about. Hell, you wouldn't have told any kids about it.

Except I would. It's framed on my mantel. The sludge is there forever.