Jeff Passan implores complaining Yankees fans to ‘shut the f*ck up’

Jeff Passan is one of the few sports media voices who can get away with poking fanbases and live to post about it.

Stephen A. Smith has his running bit with the Dallas Cowboys, but even that act’s grown stale. Passan, on the other hand, gets a bit more leeway. Not only because he’s a Kevin Durant-esque poster on X but because he’s perfectly willing to get in the trenches and turn an argument thread into a digital Oklahoma drill.

He’s had a long, well-documented love/hate thing going with New York Mets fans. And now it seems Yankees fans might be next in line. When he hears Bronx fans complain, Passan’s first instinct is to channel everyone’s favorite four-word response to a bad political take on cable news.

Passan, for the record, is a self-declared Kansas City Chiefs bandwagon fan, which is something he’s not remotely shy about. After spending his formative years in Cleveland, he now resides in Kansas City. His son, who announced his college commitment earlier this week, is a die-hard Chiefs fan. So is Passan.

So when he hears Yankees fans complaining, it hits a nerve. Not because he’s anti-Yankees, but because he’s seen real suffering. He grew up around Browns and Guardians fans. Now he lives in a city where Chiefs fans spent decades waiting for relevance before Patrick Mahomes arrived. So the idea that making the playoffs isn’t enough? That getting bounced in the ALCS is some unbearable tragedy? That’s when those reflexes kick in.

“It’s also why when I hear Yankees fans complain, I’m like, ‘Shut the f*ck up,'” ESPN’s senior MLB insider said regarding the Bronx faithful not being able to handle the championship-or-bust mentality. “Listen, would you rather have a team that is competitive every year and might not win a championship, or a team that stinks? Would you rather be a Yankees fan or a Pirates fan?”

Jeff Passan thinks Yankees fans shouldn’t only think “championship or bust” all the time pic.twitter.com/dt97DbvBkN

— The Max Mannis Podcast (@MaxMannisPod) June 30, 2025

Passan’s not here to tell Yankees fans how to fan. He actually made that clear during his appearance on Max Mannis’ podcast that you should be a fan, however you want. But if living in “championship or bust” mode leaves you miserable every October, maybe it’s worth rethinking what you’re in it for.

Going to the ALCS and World Series is objectively good. Some fans are there for the journey, for the drama, for the ride. Others only care about adding a 28th ring. Passan’s just saying that if you’re in the second group, and the Yankees don’t deliver every single time, don’t be surprised when the rest of the baseball world rolls its eyes at your annual meltdown.