Perspectives (June 24, 2026)

by Paul Semendinger

June 24, 2026

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I was away for a week earlier in June. The Yankees won almost every game that week.

Maybe the Yankees should pay me to go on vacation.

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Quick Quiz - Name every single MLB player who ever went on the field with a lollipop in his mouth.

Answer - Maybe I am wrong, but I am assuming the answer is only Jazz Chisholm

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There is something wrong with a team's discipline when a player thinks it's okay to go out on the field with a lollypop in his mouth. In so many ways that situation speaks volumes about Aaron Boone's leadership.

First, Monday wasn't the first time Chisholm has done that. He batted with a lollipop in his mouth in a game at Fenway Park.

How does the manager not know that?

How does a player think that is okay?

Boone stated that he was annoyed by what Jazz Chisholm did. So what does Boone do? He starts Chisholm the very next game.

What else happens? The Yankees stock lollipops on their bench. You can't make any of this up.

Boone stated that the situation was over and that everyone should move on. He said that he and Jazz talked. But, after Chisholm hit the big go-ahead homer and what did he do? He held up the container of lollipops to the camera. I guess Boone's message didn't resonate with the player.

I am not sure how many mangers would be fine with being shown up that way. Aaron Boone seems to be fine with it.

It is said by many that the players greatly respect Aaron Boone, but we have seen so many instances where the opposite is true. This is just the latest. Jazz Chisholm's actions seem to be the opposite of respect.

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Of course, to be fair, Aaron Boone blows bubbles on the bench as he manages. We're not necessarily talking a manager who sets a high standard for professionalism himself.

"Blowing bubbles in fine, but a lollipop isn't" is a difficult standard to set and have any real credibility.

The boss sets the tone. And the tone Boone sets simply isn't one that projects a high level of professionalism. That's simply a fact - and has been from the start of his tenure.

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Outside of the lollipop situation, he Yankees are playing very good baseball. They are close to getting through June without the swoon. That would be huge.

The fact that they are winning without Aaron Judge also says a lot about the team. They are figuring it out game by game.

This is a good thing.

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George Lombard is injured. Why does it seem like all of the great Yankees prospects in the minor leagues get injured?

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It's interesting, for years I said that the window for Aaron Judge to lead the Yankees to a World Championship was closing. This year Judge is hurt and will be out for months. The result - the Yankees are the best team in the league. (At least for now, but we can hope it continues.)

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Anthony Volpe is doing well and just might be proving his distractors wrong. Just like with the Yankees winning, there's a long way to go, but it would be nice for Volpe to finally be the player the Yankees claimed he was.

Time will tell.

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Time will also tell on Spencer Jones who, to me, looks very awkward as a hitter.

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I sometimes put a disclaimer at the end of some articles hereon SSTN that ask writers, broadcasters, bloggers, podcasters, and the like to credit this site when they borrow our ideas or material.

A few weeks ago, Ethan and I were discussing the Sunday Readers' Thread. As we talked, Ethan came up with a very original idea. He said, "Have the readers make a greatest Yankees team taking one player from each decade to play certain positions." This idea appeared on these pages on June 7, 2026.

I do not frequent other Yankees sites very often. Most I never visit. I always want my ideas to be my own and to be honest, we do a better job than the others. That being said, I stumbled upon an article on another Yankees site, published on June 13, less than a week after our article ran. That article was titled An all-time Yankees’ lineup by decade.

It seems a huge coincidence that an original idea that Ethan developed just a few days before was also developed by a writer on another site just a few days after it first appeared in print here.

Nowhere in that article does any credit go to this site.

This isn't the first time others have borrowed (or seem to have borrowed) our ideas or our words without any credit to the people here. And I find that to be a shame. It's also very wrong.

I am honored that so many come to this site for great ideas, original takes, and excellent writing. When they then borrow our ideas or content, the least they can do is give credit to where the idea first came from.