About The Off Day: Meanderings of My Mind

About The Off Day: Meanderings of My Mind

By Tim Kabel

July 3, 2026

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The Yankees are once again entrenched in a Boone-Swoon. It happens every year. This year it seems to be even worse than it has been in previous years. The Yankees have lost 7 games in a row and 11 of their last 14 games. A week ago, they were in first place in the American League East. They are now in second place, 3 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays. They have 10 games before the All-Star break, 4 of those are against the first-place Rays. After an off-day, the Yankees will open a three-game series tonight against the Minnesota Twins. Since I don't have a game to recap, I will now move from topic to topic as if I was at the beach, trying to find a place to plant my umbrella.

·       I read Dr. Semendinger's article yesterday in which he stated that it was long past the time to fire Aaron Boone. To me, that was something that should have gone without saying. I agree with him completely. I usually do but, in this case, we are in lockstep. This is Aaron Boone’s ninth season as the Yankees manager. He has managed the team longer than anyone else without winning a World Series. No one has managed the Yankees for more than eight seasons without winning the World Series besides Boone He is like Tigger, he’s the only one. Yes, he did get the team into the World Series in 2024 but they lost convincingly to the Dodgers and two of those losses could be blamed on Boone. He is not a good manager at all. He never was.  I think he's actually worse now than he was when he started. That's mostly because he hasn't improved. If you haven't improved at a job in nine years, you are probably not going to. I think a large part of the problem is that Aaron Boone thinks he is much better than he is. He is both incompetent and arrogant at the same time. When Inspector Clouseau did it in the movies, he was funny. Aaron Boone is not funny. As Dr. Semendinger noted, why on earth would Aaron Boone need to be taking batting practice now? He has bigger fish to fry. I have noticed this trend with him. A couple of years ago in Spring Training Boone made a huge production about trying to hit a home run in batting practice on his 50th birthday. Why? Who cares? He frequently makes the issues regarding the team about him. Boone needs to be fired. Look what happened with the Phillies when they fired Rob Thomson. They were struggling at that time. Since they hired Don Mattingly, the Phillies have greatly improved. They now have a record of 49-38 and trail the Atlanta Braves in the National League East by 2 1/2 games. They are tied for first place in the National League Wild Card race. The reality is that the Yankees will not fire Aaron Boone this season. They may never fire him. The unfortunate thing is that they are wasting the prime years of Aaron Judge's career. I know Judge is on the IL right now, but he will probably be back at some point this season, hopefully by the middle or end of August. It is highly likely that the Yankees will be in such bad shape at that time that his return won't make a difference. How many more years of Aaron Judge’s career and chances to win a World Series are the Yankees going to give away by keeping Aaron Boone at the helm?

·       On Wednesday, I saw that the president went to North Dakota for the grand opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. Don't worry, this is not a commentary or observation one way or the other about the current president. I didn't realize that there was a Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opening. I had never heard about it. I know many things about Theodore Roosevelt, and he is my favorite figure from United States History. I thought it was outstanding that the president was escorted to the library by a Rough Riders cavalry unit. Going to that library is now firmly on my bucket list. I don't know if I will ever make it, but I aspire to. I would want to go out there and spend a few days so that I could really take everything in. I would also want to visit Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument. One aspect of the museum that I found a bit disconcerting was that visitors, including the president, could have a conversation with an AI version of Theodore Roosevelt. I'm not a big fan of that. I can never lose sight of the fact that the A in AI stands for artificial. The responses that come from the AI version of Teddy have been programmed into him. While I'm sure that most of those responses would make some sense, it would be unfortunate for visitors to think that it is exactly what Theodore Roosevelt would say in response to whatever question they ask. That is not the case. Theodore Roosevelt was a human being just like any of the rest of us. There is no telling what he would have said. I have no problem with an AI version of Theodore Roosevelt reading excerpts from his writings or his speeches. That would be fine and extremely interesting. Anyway, it's a minor quibble that I have, and I still want to go there. Who knows, perhaps I could ask the AI version of Teddy a question that might stump him. My favorite quote regarding Theodore Roosevelt came from his daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth. She stated, “My father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding, and the baby at every christening.”

·       I started this article off by saying that Aaron Boone needs to be fired. Well, nature and my ex-wife abhor a vacuum. If Boone is gone, someone needs to take his place. The question is, who should that be? Alex Cora is unemployed, after being fired by the Red Sox and he has a proven history of winning. He also has a very unpopular image with Yankees fans, and it would be a very tough sell. Instead, I would go with Shelley Duncan, who is currently managing in AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre. He has managed a lot of the Yankees’ younger players and has a lot of experience as a manager and coach. Remember, as Dr. Semendinger pointed out, Aaron Boone had no managerial or coaching experience whatsoever before he was hired to manage the Yankees. I think Duncan deserves a chance and now is the time to do it.

·       As I have written many times, I suffer from edema, which is the swelling of the legs that can result in pain, discomfort, limited mobility, and open wounds on the legs. At one point, I had six or seven open wounds on both legs. I have been down to only one wound on just my left leg for a while now. The doctor who has been treating me for the past several months is really making a lot of progress. He has tried multiple new approaches which are very effective. I still need to have the dressing changed three times a week by visiting nurses. In addition, I need compression wraps on my legs and I have to elevate them every day. Every Thursday, I see the doctor and he usually starts out by scraping my leg to remove dead tissue and to promote healing. He asked me the other day if it was painful as he was scraping my leg. I responded by saying, “Not at all, I listen to Aaron Boone’s press conferences every day. This is nothing compared to that.”

·       I'm in the final stages of editing a new book, which will give me nine completed books waiting for publication. I'm waiting to hear back from two different publishers, and I will begin looking for agents once again at the end of the summer if I haven't heard anything. I am in no hurry. I have published two books and I just keep writing while I'm waiting. The way I look at it, the more options I have for a publisher, the better my chances are of being published. The one I finished now is about a team of marine and wildlife biologists in a remote section of Alaska who have been studying the polar bear for nine years. A new member joins the team and throws everything into upheaval. I have always been fascinated by the polar bear. As part of my writing process, I do a lot of research. I will now give you a couple of tidbits. The polar bear’s sense of smell is seven times more powerful than that of a bloodhound. The polar bear’s skin is actually black, so it can attract the heat from the Sun's rays. Polar bears can swim over 200 miles without stopping. There have been a few documented cases of polar bears swimming up to 400 miles.

·       The Yankees have a problem in their middle infield. Jazz Chisholm has been a disappointment on the field and his antics and poor decision making have hurt the team. Anthony Volpe is incredibly streaky and inconsistent. Aaron Boone is insistent that he is a great player who needs to play every day. As Dr. Semendinger noted, Volpe has a knack for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time whether that is striking out, crashing into Max Schuemann on a play during which the Yankees had five infielders, getting thrown out foolishly on the bases, or making a poor decision that leads to an error. He is also very limited because he can only play one position. The Yankees would be better served by playing Jose Caballero at shortstop every day. While it is true that Caballero can play multiple other positions, his best position is shortstop.  Caballero is clearly the better hitter, the better fielder, and the better base runner compared to Volpe. If the Yankees determine that they will not bring Jazz Chisolm back after he enters free agency, they should unload him now and bring back whatever they can get. They could then play Caballero at second base and Volpe at shortstop for the rest of the season. I think the same is true of Trent Grisham. If the Yankees are not going to bring him back next season, they should trade him to a contender. The Yankee should attempt to acquire a Major League ready, right-handed hitting catcher who is capable of batting more than .157. They should also look to acquire a third baseman who is young and preferably right-handed. On the other hand, they could get some young, capable relief pitchers and hold off on third base if they have genuine interest in signing Japanese third baseman, Teruaki  Sato, who is expected to be posted this off-season. George Lombard, junior, who is currently injured will not be ready to play in the Major Leagues this season. Even if he appears to be, he should not be rushed. He should be given every opportunity to win the job next spring and then the Yankees could send Volpe elsewhere to fill a need.  A key part of all of this would be the first topic I addressed, replacing Boone. That is the biggest move the team needs to make. If they don't do that, none of these other moves will matter. They need to have a manager who can right the ship now and get everything ready for the future. By the future, I mean later in this season when Aaron Judge returns and moving forward into 2027 and beyond.

·       Yankees fans should hire WNBA player, Sophie Cunningham, to sit in the dugout and point at Aaron Boone and Anthony Volpe every time they do something silly. She would be very busy, but I think it would be a hit with the fans.