Sometimes a team needs a little jolt — a wake-up call that forces everyone to take a hard look in the mirror. For the New York Yankees, that moment came when Giancarlo Stanton, typically the quiet veteran in the clubhouse, decided enough was enough.
In mid-August, with the Yankees’ season teetering on the edge, Stanton called a players-only meeting that changed everything. What followed was a 34–15 finish, the best record in baseball down the stretch, and a surge that brought the team back from the brink of collapse. Even though they finished tied with the Toronto Blue Jays atop the AL East — losing the tiebreaker — the Yankees rediscovered their fight, and it started with one man speaking up.
Stanton’s message hit where it needed to
For all his power at the plate, Stanton’s most impactful swing this season may have come behind closed doors. The 35-year-old slugger, who hit .273 with 24 home runs and a 158 wRC+ despite playing in just 77 games, used his voice instead of his bat when the team needed it most.
“It was good for everybody to hear,” Aaron Judge said, reflecting on the meeting, via The Athletic’s Brenden Kuty. “For all of us to kind of look in the mirror, like, ‘Hey, am I really giving it my best? Am I really giving it my all? Time to turn around and get things moving.’”
Judge, who has long been the heartbeat of the Yankees, understood the significance of Stanton’s words. “A guy like Big G, who has been around the game and has been around a lot of teams and had a lot of great moments,” Judge continued. “A coach can say it or a front office person can say it, but hearing it from one of your guys that’s out there battling with you every day … it’s a good little reality check.”
That reality check couldn’t have come at a better time. The Yankees were flat, unmotivated, and staring down the possibility of missing the postseason altogether. Stanton didn’t sugarcoat his message, and it struck a chord.
The power of accountability
Rookie slugger Ben Rice, one of the younger players who benefited from Stanton’s leadership, said the meeting forced everyone to confront the obvious. “Just kind of him acknowledging the elephant in the room, that we can be better,” Rice said. “And that things couldn’t keep sliding like that. It was good.”
It wasn’t about anger or blame — it was about accountability. And while Stanton admitted afterward that it wasn’t easy to step into that role, it proved necessary.
“Sometimes,” Stanton said, “you have to do things you don’t always do (or) don’t want to do. I can say I felt pretty bad about it for a while afterward. I meant no harm with it.”
In the end, his teammates didn’t take it as harm — they took it as leadership. Every team talks about “playing for each other,” but in moments of crisis, those words often ring hollow. Stanton’s willingness to step up and challenge the room reminded everyone that this Yankees team wasn’t built to fold.
The spark that fueled a late-season run
From that point forward, the Yankees played like a team possessed. Their energy shifted, their at-bats sharpened, and their confidence grew. It was as if the meeting unclogged whatever had been holding them back.
Even as Stanton has struggled early in the postseason — hitting just .150 with two RBIs over five games — his impact lingers beyond the box score. The Yankees wouldn’t even be here without that late-season surge, and his teammates know it.
Like a veteran captain righting a ship in a storm, Stanton reminded everyone of their purpose. The Yankees may still be facing adversity, trailing two games in the ALDS, but they’ve already shown they know how to fight their way back.
The next few nights in the Bronx will determine whether that spark can turn into something greater — but make no mistake, the fire started with Giancarlo Stanton.
More about: New York Yankees
