Ever since he was hired as the manager for the New York Yankees in 2018, people have developed mixed opinions on Aaron Boone. His brash style of managing flashes back to the high energy way he player throughout his 12 year career in the MLB.
He is someone that fits the narrative of New York rather well as he doesn’t like to lose very much. Many have come to love the way he deals with calls on the field or the way that he represents his players, but some fans have begun to voice some of their frustrations with him.
Coming down the stretch of the 2022 season, people began to voice their opinions on Boone on social media applications such as Twitter. He made some questionable decisions especially throughout their postseason run this season and some have pushed for his termination as manager.
Whenever things go wrong in games or in the clubhouse, many times, people will look at the manager first. With the Yankees having a very roller-coaster-like season this year, some have questioned Aaron Boone’s leadership skills.
With constant changes to lineup, and odd moves in high-risk situations during important games, all eyes have turned to Boone. This postseason, his overuse of certain relief pitchers, has led many to lay the blame on him for their struggle against the Houston Astros.
Some critiqued his constant use of Wandy Peralta throughout the entirety of their postseason run. While Peralta may be an effective reliever, he isn’t even necessarily the Yankees’ best relief pitcher and defiantly doesn’t have much experience under his belt.
Another move that Boone made this postseason, that left fans infuriated was in game 3 of the ALCS. When down 0-2 in the series, it essentially deemed that game a must-win for the Yankees. With Gerrit Cole on the mound for his first start of the series, the Yankees would have their best chance of winning. Known as a lights-out pitcher in big-game scenarios, Cole went into this game with an enormous amount of determination.
He pitched well throughout his start until he found himself in a bit of trouble in the sixth inning. Cole loaded the bases up with two hits and a walk, and at the time, his pitch count registered in at 96.
Boone decided to pull him from his start right in the middle of this situation and bring in relief pitcher, Lou Tivino from the bullpen. Many argue that this simply wasn’t the right decision in this scenario and that Cole should have just been left in the game.
Gerrit Cole is the ace of the pitching staff, and no one is as good at getting out of trouble as he is. He is one of the most dominant pitchers of his generation, and has earned enough credibility to warrant his ability to get out the jam he got himself into.
Clearly, Boone didn’t trust him and instead brought in at-best, the fourth-best relief pitcher in the Yankee bullpen. Likely the nail in the coffin for some, as the proceedings of this decision ended up being as catastrophic as some would imagine.
Trivino allowed all three runners to score, which blew the game open for the Astros and immediately people turned to their heads to Boone and lashed out at him.
Despite every disagreeable decision that Aaron Boone has made over his tenure as the Yankees manager, he made a mistake that tops everything before game 4 of the ALCS.
He promptly compiled multiple video clips from the Championship Series of 2004 where the Yankees blew a 3-0 lead against the Boston Red Sox. For many players on that Yankees team, it still remains a very sensitive topic and continues to haunt them to this day.
Boone then went on to show his “movie” to motivate the players to make an 0-3 comeback against the Astros, like the Red Sox did to the Yankees. He even went on to make a Face-time call with Red Sox legend, David Ortiz, questioning him about “how to make an 0-3 comeback”.
The information was leaked out by Yankee players in the clubhouse when Boone hosted the meeting, and immediately, Boone was met with outrage yet again. Yankees play-by-play announcer for YES Network, Michael Kay, ripped Boone apart on his radio talk show after the leaks made it out to the public.
“How can you be that tone deaf? Talk about bad optics. Are you out of your mind?… the darkest moment on-field in Yankee history where they blew a 3-0 lead, and you’re gonna use that as motivation for the 2022 Yankees?”
Kay rips Aaron Boone for his “motivational” video
Ever since this story made it into the public eye, fans have been calling for his termination. Despite what most would think should happen, the Yankee organization doesn’t plan on firing him for the time being. Owner, Hal Steinbrenner, shared comments on Boone’s current status as the manager.
“I still believe he is a very good manager”
Steinbrenner’s comments on Boone in the aftermath of his controversial video
The Yankees fan base is split on these comments, but the damage is already done. This will be on Boone’s record forever, and some may never forgive it.
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