The 16 Yankees Players Baseball Fans Have Hated The Most Over The Years

The New York Yankees are the greatest baseball franchise in history and it’s not even up for debate with their 27 World Series titles. In fact, despite either the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers appearing in 6 of the last 7 World Series, if you take all of their World Series titles and combine them, they still trail the Bronx Bombers by by a whopping 17 championships.

But heavy is the head that wears the crown. And no team in baseball elicits furor quite like the New York Yankees. Just seeing the names on the list of Yankees legends below is enough to drive some baseball fans up the wall. Here are the 16 most hated Yankees players over the years.

No team in MLB history has won even half of the World Series championships as the New York Yankees have. Their success is unmatched by any franchise in any of the 4 major American sports and heavy is the head that wears the crown because the Bronx Bombers have more haters than any team in the game.

Today we take a look at the Yankees player baseball fans have hated the most over the years. These are Bronx legends whose heroics are etched in the annals of history, the same heroics that caused them to be hated by opposing baseball fans throughout their time in New York.

16. Jacoby Ellsbury

First up on the list of the most hated Yankees players in recent years is Jacoby Ellsbury and after him you will notice a bit of a trend. Ellsbury, the first Native American of Navajo descent to play Major League Baseball, made his MLB debut for the Boston Red Sox in 2007 and went on to become the first player in a Red Sox uniform to join the coveted 30-30 club.
Ellsbury, once one of the most beloved players in Boston, won 2 World Series with the Red Sox (2007, 2013) before signing a 7-year, $153 million contract with the Yankees and leaving Boston for its most bitter rival. Opposing fans already hated Ellsbury’s success stealing bases with the Red Sox but once he moved to New York the city of Boston turned on him in an instant and joined the cacophony of baseball fans jeering him.

15. Bucky Dent

The name ‘Bucky Dent’ is one that immediately invokes pure rage from Red Sox fans of all ages. His home run in the final game of the 1978 season at Fenway Park against the Red Sox, a game that was a tie-breaker, was a dagger to the heart of every blue-blooded Red Sox fan in New England. Dent, of course, went on to win the World Series MVP that year.
Bucky won 2 World Series with the Yankees, in 1977 and 1978, and later managed the Bronx Bombers for part of 2 seasons. Dent is an example of a Yankees player whose mere name can drive some baseball fans insane.

14. Nick Swisher

Nepo baby Nick Swisher was a 2009 World Series champion with the Yankees and as a switch-hitter he drove managers nuts trying to pitch around him as he racked up 9 straight seasons with 20+ home runs.
Swisher’s time in New York didn’t get off to a hot start. He began as a bench player with Mark Teixeira and Xavier Nady starting over Swisher but in his first start over Nady, Swisher went 3-for-5 with a HR and 5 RBIs.
Nick Swisher was the ultimate pest to opposing baseball fan bases and teams. He pitched an inning of relief against my Tampa Bay Rays in 2009 and struck out Gabe Kapler, the first Yankees position player to pitch in a game in 12 years… And the worst part was he did it all with a huge, beaming smile. He would find the saddest fan behind the dugout and smile right at them. What a monster.

13. Joba Chamberlain

A 2009 World Series champ with the New York Yankees, Joba Chamberlain was drafted by the Yankees out of college in 2006 and sped through the minors to make this Major League debut on August 7, 2007 against the Blue Jays where he pitched 2 scoreless innings.
In August 2007, Chamberlain threw two fastballs over the head of Red Sox 1B Kevin Youkilis and received his first ejection from the mound, it also set the tenor for his relations with Red Sox nation going forward.
On July 25, 2008 in a game opposite Red Sox ace Josh Beckett, Joba Chamberlain got the best of him and pitched 7 shutout innings en route to the Yankees winning 1-0. In the 2009 World Series, his only ring with the Yankees, Joba came out of the bullpen in high pressure situations and destroyed the souls of Phillies fans everywhere.

12. Aaron Boone

Aaron Boone, former Yankees player and current Bronx manager since 2018, made 1 All-Star game in his playing career and naturally it was with the Yankees.

Boone’s walk-off home run in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS against Tim Wakefield and the Boston Red Sox was a swing that prolonged the infamous ‘Curse of the Bambino’ and was so timely that the New York Daily News ran a headline calling it the ‘Curse of the Boonebino.’ Needless to say, Aaron Boone has difficulty finding a friendly bartender when he’s in Boston.

11. Aaron Judge

The only current batter of the Bronx Bombers on this list, Aaron Judge has firmly cemented himself as the most beloved current player in pinstripes according to Yankees fans and he is simultaneously the most hated/feared Yankees player at the moment to opposing fans.
A 6x All-Star, 3x AL Home Run leader, and 2x AL MVP who signed a 9-year, $360 million contract with the Yankees and became just the 16th captain in Yankees history. He holds the Yankees’ record for the most HRs in a single season. Nuff said.

10. Johnny Damon

Is that Johnny Damon in that photograph or Benedict Arnold? Some in Boston would have trouble telling the two apart.
Often considered the heart of the team for the Boston Red Sox historic 2004 World Series win, he went on to win his second world series with the Yankees…Boston’s most bitter rival.
Damon’s 4-year, $52 million contract with the Yankees after 4 seasons with the Red Sox was a dagger to the heart of Boston fans. This guy is featured in Fever Pitch for peat’s sake, a rom-com about diehard Red Sox fans…

9. Paul O'Neil

Paul O’Neil, 5x World Series champion with the New York Yankees, 1994 AL batting champ, and an honoree inside Monument Park it Yankee Stadium in The Bronx.
Opposing fans hated to see him at the plate and these days they still have to listen to him as O’Neil is a longtime broadcaster of Yankees games on the YES Network. He’s been a thorn in the side of opposing AL East fans for multiple generations. You gotta respect it.

8. Mariano Rivera

Is there a more universally beloved pitcher in Yankees history (that wasn’t also a batter) than Mariano Rivera? He’s the greatest closer in MLB history. Opposing fans visiting The Bronx would hear his music in the bottom of the 9th and know it was over. Yankees fans would hear ‘Enter Sandman’ start playing and know they were in the best hands possible. Mariano Rivera was so clutch that opposing fans would often start leaving the stadium once he took the mound so they could beat traffic. There will never be another closer like him.

7. Gerrit Cole

Remember when the New York Yankees broke open the piggy bank to spend $324 million on ace Gerrit Cole for a franchise record 9-year contract? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
That astronomical contract along caused Gerrit Cole to become one of the most hated Yankees players in history (by opposing fans) but his fastball which topped out at 102mph didn’t make him any friends outside of The Bronx either.

6. Mark Teixeira

If there’s one thing baseball fans absolutely love it is seeing a player ascend to the role of ‘Face of the Franchise’ only to jump ship for a bigger pay day. Mark Teixeira led the AL in RBIs and HRs en route to the Yankees winning the 2009 World Series. That roster included The Captain™, A-Rod, and other modern era Yankees legends but Teixeira for some reason always seemed to get under the skin of the opposition.

5. Jason Giambi

Jason Giambi won the 2000 AL MVP award while playing with the Athletic so he did the only natural thing and signed a 7-year, $120 million contract with the NYY in December 2001 and got out of California for The Bronx.
NOBODY got booed louder in Oakland than Jason Giambi, not a single player. That hate followed him for the rest of his career until, of course, he was inducted into the Oakland Hall of Fame and the team left Oakland. Would he get booed as a fan watching an A’s game in Sacramento? Almost certainly.

4. CC Sabathia

CC Sabathia pitched for an astounding 19 seasons in the big leagues, 10 of which was with the Yankees. He won 1 World Series (2009) for the Bronx Bombers, a 2007 CY Young Award, and led the league in Wins on 2 occasions. Sabathia drove opposing baseball fans insane because he was the living embodiment of people arguing ‘how can you be a baseball player when you look like that?’ as he hovered around 300 pounds on the mound. But he’d used his considerable weight to rip the souls out of opposing batters and is widely revered as one of the greatest Yankees pitchers of all time.

3. Derek Jeter

The final 3 players on this list of the most hated Yankees players of all time (by opposing fans) have me feeling like ‘do I really need to say anything?’ Derek. Jeets. The Captain. The King of New York. A 5x World Series champion who was the generational connection in the dugout. A 14x All-Star, Monument Park Honoree, and near unanimous first ballot Hall of Famer (99.7%). Yankees fans would take a bullet for him, Red Sox fans wouldn’t have picked up the phone to call for help if they saw him step off a curb and get hit by a car.

2. Roger Clemens

One of the greatest pitchers in MLB history, Roger Clemens began his big league career with the Red Sox from 84-96, had a short stint in Toronto, and moved onto The Bronx where his pitching exploits are best remembered. An 11x All-Star, 2x World Series champion, 7x Cy Young Award Winner, and a guy who was accused by Jose Canseco of using steroids. His name was mentioned 82 times in the infamous ‘Mitchell Report.’ Clemens himself swore under oath in front of a Congressional hearing that he never took steroids but for all his success and all of the allegations, most baseball fans outside of The Bronx have nothing but disdain for Roger Clemens.

1. Alex Rodriguez

Could there be anyone else at #1 on this list? Maybe. That would all depend entirely on how you interpret ‘the most hated Yankees player of all time’ and whether or not you are a Yankees fan yourself. Alex, A-Rod, he was one of the most feared batters in the game and finished his career with 696 home runs, 14 All-Star selections, 10 Silver Slugger awards, 3 AL MVP Awards, 2 Golden Gloves, and 4 AL Home Run titles.
A-Rod always wanted to be loved by fans and in The Bronx, when he wasn’t slumping, Alex was definitely beloved. But he was despised by most opposing fans and when steroid allegations came to light beginning in 2007 with Jose Canseco’s book, Alex Rodriguez would never be looked at the same by the baseball world. To most fans, A-Rod’s entire career has an asterisk due to PEDs despite having one of the purest swings in history.