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BOSTON – Sean Casey recorded and sent the video to his longtime friend on August 27, the day the Yankees won their 13th straight game.
“Even more losses, Boonie, you could have been here with me and your brother,” the former first baseman and current MLB network analyst said as he wore a Reds uniform and walked through a tunnel from the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, then he moved his camera (phone) over to Aaron’s older brother Bret Boone, who added, with a smile, “You better believe it.”
“Boonie could have been here, Johnny,” Casey continued, and it would be Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, who calmly noted, “Hey, we were shooting for you.”
“If you had stayed at 0.500, you would have come here about a week ago,” Casey concluded, as he, Bench and Bret Boone dressed for the Reds Hall of Fame Legends Game. “Keep on going.”
Aaron Boone, okay with the jokes at his expense, continues. That’s what he does. On his worst professional days in the past four seasons, he betrayed an irritation that would rank around 2 on the Joe Girardi scale. He has no facial expression to approach the gaze of Joe Torre’s death. Let’s not even start with more distant predecessors like Billy Martin or Lou Piniella (although, according to Baseball-Reference.com, he has matched Oakland’s Bob Melvin for the head of the AHL with six kickouts this season).
“He doesn’t get shaken,” Casey, 1998-2003 Boone’s Reds teammate, told The Post in a recent phone interview. “I don’t know if it’s that California upbringing.”
In the company’s most prominent management position – her first such gig – the steadfast nature doesn’t play very well all the time. Like when the Yankees, armed with the highest payroll in the American League, start the season 5-10, or go 13-22 (which brought them down to .500, 41-41) or 7-15 ( a streak that started on August 28), poor play abundant. Yet that’s what Boone is. He’s the person the Yankees trusted to lead this roller coaster to the top of the end of a 12-year title drought.
With his contract expiring at the end of his season, Boone will manage the Yankees American League game on Tuesday, against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, without a net. As much as his bosses love him, giving him a new contract after a wildcard loss, and four seasons without even a pennant (albeit four straight playoff appearances) would be a tough sell to their clients who have long accommodated the L ending. George Steinbrenner’s claim that anything that wasn’t a parade was a failure.
Still, if he knows his future, the 48-year-old does a hell of a job hiding it.
“You know, it’s my livelihood,” Boone told Fenway on Monday. “It’s been a big part of my life. I love it. Means a lot to me. But in the end, that’s not all.
Growing up in a baseball family probably gave him such an added perspective, Boone agreed. In addition to Bret, his grandfather Ray and father Bob both had distinguished careers as players, and Bob led the Royals from 1995-97 and the Reds from 2001-03 (yes, he led Aaron in Cincinnati), with both races ending in layoffs.
“Yeah, I think sometimes you are who you are and you’re a product of what you grew up in, I guess,” said Boone, who also credited his faith and family for answering questions about his. work security. “I’m sure that’s something that shaped me in this regard. … There is probably something to this.
“Look, I just think it’s a 162 game season. It’s a chore. It’s a game of chess. You know, unlike other sports even, the best teams win 60% of the time, and you have to be able to handle that. And… you see teams, you see players, you see talented players who can’t handle that and are going by the wayside. So there is a quality of makeup out there that I think you need to have as a club if you are to survive the inevitable routine of the major league season.
Said Kyle Higashioka, who will start behind plate in Tuesday’s game, “It’s always important for a manager to keep a cool head, especially during downtime, because we know that during the times when we don’t have so much. well done, that’s not who we are, so it’s important not to belittle yourself, and we know that [Boone] always going to have a pretty calm head about everything.
“It never helps when you panic about something. I think that kind of negative state of mind can only have a negative impact on you. It’s always great to have someone who does. leads the team with a very calm head.
“I think Aaron throughout the season, with all the criticism, for him to be in this place, tells you what kind of manager he is, what kind of person he is,” Boone’s Red Sox Alex Cora, who added the pair spoke to each other on Sunday.
Casey and Boone first met in 1997, when they played together in the Arizona Fall League; Boone made his debut with the Reds this season and Casey with the Indians. On March 30, 1998, the day before Opening Day, the Indians gave Casey to the Reds for veteran starting pitcher Dave Burba, and Casey had to rush to Cincinnati to join his new team in time for Game 1.
“I walked into the stadium and Johnny Bench said, ‘You’re late for the season!’ Casey remembers, laughing. “I’m like, ‘Sweet Jesus, where is Aaron Boone? He’s the only guy I know! ‘
“It was my first real interaction with Boonie doing what Boonie does. He went out of his way to welcome me to the team.
The fiery Casey recalled one instance of complaining about something work-related, only for a quiet Boone who turned to him and said, “Case, don’t get bitter. Get better.”
“Did I think he would be a manager someday?” One million percent, ”Casey said. “The way he viewed the game, and Boonie is so good with people. Everyone loved Boonie. I see that now when I look in that canoe.
“Boonie is going to put anyone in this clubhouse at ease. It’s the same guy.
If Yankees players want the same guy to handle them next season, it’s time for them to reward Boone for his reliable and consistent composure.
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