New York Yankees fans celebrate as team fires hitting coach Dillon Lawson: "Finally some accountability" "Good first step, fire Boone next"
With the New York Yankees still languishing in fourth place in the American League East, the team has fired hitting coach Dillon Lawson.
The move comes after the Yankees lost 7-4 to the visiting Chicago Cubs on Sunday afternoon. The defeat gave the Cubs a series win in the final action for both teams before Tuesday's All-Star Game.
New York is 49-42 at the recognized midway point of the 2023 season, eight games behind the slumping Tampa Bay Rays, who snapped a seven-game losing streak by defeating the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.
The Yankees will be parting ways with hitting coach Dillon Lawson, per @JonHeyman https://t.co/vfak54AlR9
The New York Yankees offense has struggled mightily since the loss of defending AL Most Valuable Player Aaron Judge to a toe injury in June. The Yankees rank 28th in MLB with a .231 batting average, ahead of only the offensively-challenged Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics.
Here's how fans reacted to the firing:
@TalkinYanks @JonHeyman good first step, fire boone next.
@TalkinYanks @JonHeyman FINALLY SOME ACCOUNTABILITY https://t.co/rrQokoLeAS
@TalkinYanks @JonHeyman It’s a scapegoat firing but a firing nonetheless
New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman made the announcement Sunday afternoon. He said:
“It has been well documented that I have been reluctant in the past to make changes to our coaching staff in the middle of a season. I am a big believer that successes and failures are collective efforts.
"However, I ultimately felt that a change was needed and that a new voice overseeing our hitting operations would give us the best chance to perform closer to our capabilities as we move forward into the second half of our season."
@TalkinYanks @JonHeyman I actually can't believe they did something
@TalkinYanks @JonHeyman Checking this off the list of problems for the Yankees like: https://t.co/wrseIeWpjE
@TalkinYanks @JonHeyman This can’t be real
Many New York Yankees fans are clear in their vision of who they see taking over as the team's new hitting coach: former Yankees right fielder and current New York baseball broadcaster Paul O'Neill.
O'Neill, 60, played nine of his 17 MLB seasons with the Yankees, with four of his five All-Star appearances coming in pinstripes. A favorite of the Yankee Stadium "Bleacher Creatures," O'Neill hit .288 for his career, but logged a .303 average with New York from 1993-2001 after being traded to the Bronx from the Cincinnati Reds.
@TalkinYanks @JonHeyman Hire Paul O'Neill--Listening to him you can tell he knows a lot about hitting.
@TalkinYanks @JonHeyman Should be the next hitting coach. Would bring a fire and accountability back to the locker room. https://t.co/n0MWWHq51B
@TalkinYanks @JonHeyman Should be Paul O’neill without question
However, one Yankee fan would like to see reviled third baseman Josh Donaldson as third base coach. Anything to get the eternally-slumping veteran to retire.
@TalkinYanks @JonHeyman Did they make Donaldson the new hitting coach?
New York Yankees make a change at last
It may not have been the firing that Yankees fans were calling for — Boone and Cashman are squarely in the crosshairs for most New Yorkers — but Lawson's dismissal is at least an attempt to change the team's fortunes this season.
No replacement was named for Lawson, who was hired as the team's hitting coach prior to the 2022 campaign.