Aaron Boone yankees
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Thursday began like most other days in Florida during Yankees spring training. New York is hosting the Boston Red Sox this afternoon, so players hit the field to get their work in. Manager Aaron Boone, who is celebrating his 50th birthday, joined with one thought in mind: to take batting practice and get one over the wall.

This seems like a specific thing for him to accomplish on his day of birth. It seems like he enjoys doing big things on milestone birthdays, though:

Things have turned a little grimmer in Yankee land, especially since starting pitcher Carlos Rodon is hitting the injured list with a forearm strain. But before that news broke, it was all smiles around the cage as Booney got his birthday wish:

Bat flip and homer strut to boot. Looks like someone’s still got it. I’m not going to lie, Boone’s swing looks great for a dude who just hit the half-century mark. He obviously has the foundation to make it happen.

Boone last played in the big leagues on October 4th, 2009 at the age of 36. We know this isn’t the first time he’s taken batting practice in over a decade. But still, it’s clear he’s far removed from his playing days. He hit 126 dingers across his MLB career, with one specific homer overshadowing the rest of his accomplishments.

With Frankie Montas and now Rodon hurt to start the regular season, maybe Aaron Boone should toe the slab to see what he’s got left in that arm of his.

Matt Musico can be reached at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.

Matt Musico is an editor for ESNY. He’s been writing about baseball and the Mets for the past decade. His work has been featured on numberFire, MetsMerized Online, Bleacher Report, and Yahoo! Sports.