The Yankees begin a nine-game West Coast trip in Oakland on Tuesday in firm control of the AL East and in contention for the best record in the majors.
So why doesn’t it feel like it?
Their just-completed four-game split against Cleveland in The Bronx had an occasional playoff feel, but it also featured another battle with the umpires that ended with three ejections on Saturday and more contention in Sunday’s loss.
On Saturday, Aaron Boone noted his team “sometimes toes up to the line a little bit and there’s an edge we’re playing with right now.’’
Overall, it seems to have served them well, but following Saturday’s win, Cameron Maybin acknowledged the Yankees would have to change their ways in order to not consistently agitate the umpires, and both Boone and Brett Gardner said they hoped to stop getting tossed out of games.
Still, Gardner is confident the team’s attitude is necessary for them to get where the players want to go.
“For sure, there’s pride in us having that edge,’’ Gardner said. “I think that’s something that’s important for a group of guys to have.”
And as the Yankees look toward another postseason and a shot at their first title in a decade, Gardner believes it’s vital to a championship.
“To be successful, I don’t think you’ll find many — or any — teams that have had a great year and won a World Series that didn’t have that to them,’’ Gardner said. “If you look back last year at what the Red Sox did, they were the best team in the game all year long. And I wasn’t in their clubhouse, but I think people will probably tell you they had an edge to them. I think it’s important.”
Of course, playing with an edge doesn’t go hand in hand with drawing the ire of umpires, as the Yankees have done of late.
Gardner and Boone have both noted that Gardner needs to refrain from pounding his bat into the top of the dugout, particularly when tensions are already high.
But Aaron Judge mimicked Gardner’s antics after two hits Sunday in what could become a rallying cry for the team.
As for Boone, he didn’t make much of his newfound internet stardom based on his now infamous “savages” rant and to a lesser extent, his argument with the umpires on Saturday.
“I don’t know if I expected anything,’’ Boone said. “I’m just trying to be myself and represent our team and players. I didn’t set out to portray any kind of attitude. I just try to be authentic. … Things just get sensationalized more now because everything is out there. I try to lead the team as best I can and I hope they all know I care about them.”
His players appreciate it.
“I definitely think it helps us,’’ Gardner said. “Sometimes in big situations, it shows how passionate he is about things. I don’t know if it gets better results on the field or how that translates, but it doesn’t hurt.’’
In Sunday’s game, the Yankees and Indians were both unhappy with home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi’s strike zone, but no one was tossed.
Boone would like to keep it that way.
“I don’t want issues with umpires,’’ Boone said. “Sometimes there’s gonna be the inevitable disagreements and be some angst here and there. Hopefully everyone can do a better job — us included — of doing our best to defuse certain situations to keep things from getting escalated, certainly, like they did [Saturday].”