Yankees' Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman Booed at Paul O'Neill's Jersey Retirement
August 21, 2022
Paul O'Neill's jersey retirement ceremony on Sunday at Yankee Stadium featured a plethora of boos from the crowd, but they weren't directed toward the five-time World Series champion who played for the Pinstripes from 1993 to 2001.
Yankees fans booed managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman during the 33-minute ceremony amid the team's recent skid that has seen it lose the American League's best record, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN).
Steinbrenner was booed as he presented O'Neill with a replica of his Yankee Stadium plaque, according to Zach Braziller of the New York Post. Cashman did not make an appearance at the ceremony but was booed when Steinbrenner mentioned him.
The Yankees have been in a slump since play resumed after the mid-July All-Star break, going 9-20 since then. They have been even worse in August, going just 4-14, the worst mark in baseball.
After Saturday's loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, Pinstripes manager Aaron Boone voiced his frustration while meeting with the media, slamming his palm on the table in anger as New York lost its sixth straight series for the first time since 1995:
"We have to play better. Period," he said. "And the great thing is, it's right in front of us. It's right here, and we can fix it."
Marly Rivera @MarlyRiveraESPN“The great thing it’s right in front of us!” -Here’s a very angry Aaron Boone calling out the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Yankees?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Yankees</a> for not doing their job offensively <a href="https://t.co/99qYat4lqX">pic.twitter.com/99qYat4lqX</a>
Yankees star Aaron Judge expressed similar frustrations while speaking with the media following Saturday's loss:
"We're not happy about it," Judge said. "If you lose one game, or if you lose 10 games, you're not happy at all. But if we sit here and stay frustrated about one game, it's going to lead into the next game.
"So, it's about us picking ourselves up, and not forgetting we're the New York Yankees. And we have to go out there and show people that."
The Yankees are still first in the AL East with a 73-48 record but sit 3.5 games behind the Houston Astros for the AL lead after it once seemed like they had a stranglehold on the entire AL with how well they were playing.
Luckily, the Yankees are still on pace to make the postseason, but they must turn things around quickly if they want to maintain their seven-game AL East lead over the second-place Blue Jays.