The New YorkYankees hired managerial neophyte Aaron Boone based on his interview. Now in Spring Training they, and we, are starting to see how his words have transformed into deeds.
As New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone walked by the stands of George M. Steinbrenner Field one day early in Spring Training–his entire outfit a perfectly rumpled baseball mess–he looked as if he had aged twenty years.
No individual aspect, sartorial or otherwise, betrayed his rapid advancement, however.
It was not that he had dexterously persuaded his pulled-down cap to seamlessly partake in his Oscar Madison impersonation, although it was an impressive feat. Getting his blue Yankees hat to be wrinkled in the same fashion as his blue Yankees windbreaker is no small task.
Nor was it that he seemed to be walking with a slouch befitting a much older man, his head arriving several seconds before his behind — keeping his right hand in his back pocket the whole time added to the general impression, but did not itself make one.
No, it was the confluence of all these factors that made such an impression. That, and the most common images of Boonie.
Indelible Images
I think people mostly think of the youngish Boone from his gobsmacked interview immediately after winning Game 7 of the ALCS way back in 2003.
And his time in the ESPN booth presented an image of a young man getting older…as opposed to a well-weathered sage and freshly woken baseball hermit, long removed from his active life.
But that is what he looked like on that day. And since.
He seems transformed into an older, more relaxed version of himself, a baseball lifer back where he belongs. As he ambled past, his mind on making sure Tanaka was ready to warm-up, he still took time for light-hearted banter with the few fans seated in the front row.
That was the first impression made by Boone. And his words and deeds since have at least given a glimpse of his managerial style.