Last-place Yankees ignoring haters, doubters amid playoff push

Members of the New York Yankees understand many want to see MLB's former "Evil Empire" fail as the club begins the first full weekend of August sitting in last place in the American League East standings. 

"I think when you wear the pinstripes there is kind of that 'us against the world' a little bit, regardless of the situation that we’re in right now," Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt said following Thursday's 4-3 win over the Houston Astros in the Bronx, per Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. 

As noted by Miller and Mike Rosenstein of the New York Post, Yankees fans campaigned during midweek home games via chants and signs for the club to fire general manager Brian Cashman following underwhelming moves Cashman executed ahead of Tuesday's MLB trade deadline. The Bronx Bombers began Friday's action just two-and-a-half games back in the race for a wild-card playoff berth but also trailed the first-place Baltimore Orioles by 10 games in the division standings at that time. 

Even though the Yankees haven't completed a trip to the World Series since they won the 2009 Fall Classic, it's no secret in their clubhouse that individuals throughout the baseball community hope the big-spending club flops on a yearly basis. 

"A lot of people like to see us lose and our fans like to see us win," slugger Giancarlo Stanton remarked. "It’s always a story either way. We’ve got to minimize the outside noise and distractions and unfortunate things that happen along the way." 

Rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe grew up a local diehard Yankees fan and, thus, knows all about the expectations that hover over the storied franchise each year regardless of who is and/or isn't on the roster. 

"As a team going through this, I think it makes everyone a lot closer," Volpe explained. "We feel like the only people that can do something about it is us. So I think we’re really sticking together, and we can do something. I think in the long run it’s going to benefit us." 

The 57-52 Yankees once again host the 62-48 Astros on Friday night.