The Yankees entered Friday’s game after blowing their five-game winning streak with a 6-3 loss the night before. The score was Boston leading 1-0 at the top of the ninth. With Jarren Duran at second base, Ceddanne Rafaela hit a routine groundball to shortstop Anthony Volpe in a David Bednar pitch. Instead of taking the easy out at first, Volpe inexplicably threw to second and missing the easy out and leaving the bases loaded.

Though Boston couldn’t take advantage of that respite and do further damage, it was still a clear mistake. What triggered fans even more was when manager Aaron Boone came in defense of Volpe with a head-scratching argument. Bryan Hoch reported, “Aaron Boone said Anthony Volpe’s throw to 2B in the 9th was “obviously not the right play, but a little bit of a heady play, too.”

And this isn’t the first time Boone has found explanations for Volpe’s errors. Boone further added to his justification, “He almost caught a guy[Durran] off in scoring position there “.  Boone is right when he says Volpe almost got Durran. However, Boone has developed an unwanted reputation for defending Volpe every time he makes an erroneous judgment. The Volpe’s double error against the Rays last month, Boone said, “For a very talented defender, he will get through it, and we have to get him there.” And then on July 21 vs. Toronto, Aaron Boone said, “still a top shortstop,” after Volpe made a throwing error. 

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Defensively, Anthony Volpe’s overall OAA for this season stands at -7, and his fielding value stands at -5. Not good numbers by any stretch of the imagination. And, rightly, the fans have had enough of their manager defending Volpe, and this time they didn’t hold back.

Fans unleash on Aaron Boone for defending Anthony Volpe’s error plays

One fan wrote, “This is not a serious organization walking this guy out there everyday. For the love of all that is holy bench him and play cabarello who has been spark.” The stats also align with this argument. Volpe’s has the AL’s highest 16 errors and a .206 batting average through the season. Meanwhile, Jose Caballero has been hitting .438 in his last 7 games.

Another fan mocked Boone’s predictable habit using humor. He went, “It’s Jazz’s fault. Shouldn’t go near 2nd on the assumption Volpe would do something stupid. I’m kidding, of course. Totally on Volpe.” The fan highlights the absurdity of the manager’s defense expertly by sarcastically blaming Chisholm for being in the correct position.

Another fan chimed in with, “What are Boone’s qualifications to be Yankees Skipper again?” questioning the manager’s entire resume when the team is trailing behind Toronto and the Red Sox and struggling for a Wild Card spot. Another quipped his imaginary and unrealistic logic, “Lewis Carroll Double Speak”.

And finally, one fan simply summarizes the well-known belief that Boone’s primary job is not to lead, but to make excuses for his players’ mistakes. “Apologist Aaron Boob”. From calling Volpe’s mistakes “heady” to calling his team a “very good defensive club,” after a four-error game, Boone is playing into his persona as an Apologist.