As the celebrating Yankees mixed with family and media members on Progressive Field’s grass after Game 5 of the ALCS, Aaron Boone and Suzyn Waldman crossed paths.
The manager and radio icon speak before every game so that Waldman can relay nuggets of information to WFAN’s audience. On Saturday, however, the two shared a private conversation as Waldman congratulated Boone for leading the Yankees back to the Fall Classic.
With a microphone in Waldman’s hand and a brand-new 2024 World Series hat adorning Boone’s head, the two embraced for a long hug on the crowded field.
“I’ve done pregame with him every single day for seven years,” Waldman told the Daily News. “I’ve known him since 2003 when he got [traded] here. I know what he’s been through.
“It’s just a great moment. He was sort of validated in this moment.”
Aaron Boone and Suzyn Waldman shared a really nice moment out on the field. #Yankees pic.twitter.com/dkVeYBPhEm
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) October 20, 2024
Indeed, the Yankees’ first pennant since 2009 penned another defining — if still incomplete — chapter in Boone’s Bronx tale.
As a player, he hit one of the most prolific home runs in franchise history when he sent the Yankees to the World Series with a walk-off homer in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Had he never worn pinstripes again, Boone would have easily been remembered as a beloved postseason hero.
Instead, the baseball lifer replaced Joe Girardi as the Yankees’ manager after the team lost Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS. While Boone has become the seventh-winningest skipper in team history with a 603-429 regular season record, the years that followed came with plenty of ridicule, especially when the Yankees fell short in the playoffs time after time.
“I hear it all,” Waldman said. “You hear it on social media. You think he doesn’t hear it? You’re wrong.”
The broadcaster wasn’t the only one to mention the disparagement directed at Boone over the years.
“He takes a lot of heat and keeps firing, keeps going forward,” said ALCS MVP Giancarlo Stanton, who has also heard his fair share of criticism since joining the Yankees before the 2018 season, Boone’s first as manager. “That’s why he’s one of the anchors for us. It’s incredible for him, because I’ve been here as long as he has. We’ve gone through it together. So it’s awesome for him.”
Calls for Boone’s job were particularly vocal a year ago, as the Yankees watched the entire postseason from home after an injury-ravaged, underachieving campaign left the team fighting to finish above .500.
The Yankees could have easily given in to the public pressure after Brian Cashman labeled the year a “disaster.” But no managerial search took place as the club opted to evaluate process over personnel.
On Saturday, the Yankees reaped the rewards of that approach. Boone, meanwhile, relished getting over the ALCS hump.
“It’s amazing. It really is. You pour so much into it all year,” Boone said of his first pennant as manager. “I couldn’t be more proud to do it with this organization. The Steinbrenner family’s been amazing to me. Getting to work with Brian Cashman, who’s been amazing to me, and his front office, and then the guys I get to go to work with every day — my coaches and these players — that’s why you do it.”
Boone went on to praise the camaraderie in his clubhouse, a key component to the Yankees’ success this season.
“This group is as close as I’ve ever seen, and they trust each other,” Boone said. “They lean on each other. They love each other. They play for each other. Those are special things to have in a team sport.”
The Yankees also play for Boone.
While the manager hasn’t always been the most popular among fans, he has immense support within the clubhouse. Aaron Judge, the Yankees’ captain, may be Boone’s biggest advocate, and Yankees of various ages, backgrounds and time spent with the manager routinely praise the way he guides his team.
“I love it. I love it!” said the outspoken Jazz Chisholm Jr., who didn’t experience quite the same cohesiveness as a Marlin before being traded to the Yankees in July. “Boonie is a great guy. I think he’s a player coach. I think he’s a me coach, personally. He loves everything I do. He loves the way I come to the field dressed. He likes when I pimp stuff. He likes the way I play third base. Likes the way I swing the bat. And he comes to me every day no matter how I’m doing, ‘Hey, keep on doing it. I trust you. You’re my guy. You’re my guy.’ So just being behind him and watching him do that as a coach and a player, you can’t ask for nothing else, man.
“That’s impactful for everybody, not just me. I feel like he does it with everybody. Everybody here loves him.”
That love showed as the Yankees celebrated their ALCS victory in the visitor’s clubhouse at Progressive Field.
With Boone wearing nothing but thermals after a cold night in Cleveland, the Yankees kept a few bottles of beer and champagne on ice for the end of their party. Those bottles were then poured on Boone, sending a shiver down his spine as players hooted and hollered for their freezing manager.
Chisholm, comparing his old team to his new one, called the Yankees a “family.” There’s no doubt Boone has played an integral part in fostering such a sentiment.
“We got a great leader here in Aaron Boone,” Cashman said.
The hope now is that Boone can lead the Yankees to their 28th World Series title.
The manager noted that the last time he took the Yankees this far into October – with his famous ALCS swing in 2003 – his team didn’t finish the job.
The Yankees lost that World Series to the Marlins, leaving Boone without a ring.
He’d like to rectify that this time around.
“We get to go play for a world championship now,” he said. “That’s pretty sweet.”
