Report: "bad Blood" In The Yankee Locker Room, But Is It True?

We all know that the Covid pandemic has changed every aspect of our lives, including sports journalism. Beat writers have not been in locker rooms for two seasons now which has eliminated some of those extra behind the scenes moments that fans crave. Now we MAY have some insight on what has really been holding back this team.

I say MAY because NJ.com posted a story that you can only see if you are a paid subscriber, luckily it has also been leaked on MSN.com HERE. The headline of the story is about David Cone but, that’s not the real takeaway of the story. The lead was actually buried. Does NJ.com think that Cone could help the Yankees? Sure, I believe that. But according to them an unnamed source, there have been some chemistry concerns in the clubhouse.

“According to a source, Gerrit Cole and Brett Gardner argued after MLB prohibited the use of Spider Tack in June. To soften the blow and lighten the moment, Gardner paraded around the clubhouse with pine tar on his hat. He was trying to get a laugh out of Cole. Apparently it had just the opposite effect.”

Sounds like locker room banter was taken personally instead of as a joke. As the Yankees veteran leader of this team and the only active player from the 2009 Championship team I’m sure Gardner has seen plenty of locker room antics in his day but it sounds like he really underestimated Cole’s reaction IF this story is even true.

“Cole didn’t see it that way, pushing back in a way that must’ve shocked the veteran outfielder. It took a full day for Cole to calm down; he ended up apologizing to Gardner.”