Yankees' Aaron Boone positive he has the right approach
Yankees manager Aaron Boone looks on from the dugout against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, June 6, 2021. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
MINNEAPOLIS — Aaron Boone and his relentlessly positive outlook, even as his team has struggled now two-plus months into the season, hasn’t gained him much popularity among the Yankees’ fan base.
Before his team started a three-city, eight-game trip Tuesday night against the Twins, the fourth-year manager said that isn’t going to change that any time soon.
No, there will not be any strip-the-paint-from-the-walls speeches or toppling over of postgame buffet tables in an effort to jumpstart things.
"I don’t do things by design necessarily, I react to what I believe and what I’m seeing," Boone said. "And as much as I understand that we’re not where we need to be as a club through these first 60 games, I wholeheartedly know and believe in what we’re capable of as a group and that that has not changed at all."
The Yankees came into Tuesday a ho-hum 31-29, riding a four-game losing streak and losers in seven of their last 10 games. The primary culprit has been what’s been pretty much all season — an inconsistent offense and a slew of poor decisions on the base paths and, at times, in the field.
"Ultimately, our job, my job, is get these guys in the best possible situation so that when they take the field at seven o’clock, they’re prepared, ready, and able to perform."
The Yankees haven’t done that with any degree of regularity this season but, for Boone, that doesn’t mean they won’t.
"I’m unwavering on my belief in that room, and I don’t believe that’s wishful thinking or just me being optimistic," Boone said. "Because I know what those dudes are capable of. I know how much they care, and I know how much this has weighed on them throughout this. And I also know, though, that’s part of it, and we’ve got to be able to handle this adversity. And that’s what we’re doing to the best of our ability right now."
