Yankees manager Aaron Boone’s “savages in the box” rant was not a one-time thing, by all accounts.
Boone has been unable to climb Astros Mountain and as he enters his sixth season, it sounds like he is driven to put the fire out once and for all.
Here is one Yankee on the manager’s 2023 spring training address:
“We gotta have some balls, we gotta have that eff you in you to go out there and beat teams up.”
The Yankee added: “I think he believes in us tremendously. And when he speaks like that, obviously he’s been part of great teams, he had a great career, so for him to speak that about us and tell us that in front of us kinda gives that confidence to keep going.”
OK, that is great. But back to the balls …
All kidding aside, the perception of Boone would be radically different if he showed more fire publicly. The Yankees clearly used Aaron Judge’s free agency to do a little image reclamation with Hal Steinbrenner — he got the deal done from Italy! — and now they can do the same with Boone if he gets his blood boiling a tad here or there. His players seem to like him, as Serby’s column illustrates. Now he just has to prove he can get them over the hump.
MORE ON ESNY:
• Mike Francesa says Aaron Rodgers is being a ‘weirdo’
• Tim Locastro making his case to crack Mets’ Opening Day roster
• We need this Knicks playoff matchup in the worst way
• The latest on Daniel Jones’ Giants contract talks
• Stephen A. Smith is a true ‘Mike and the Mad Dog’ disciple
• MSG goes direct to consumer as clock ticks on YES Network
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @jameskratch.
