There may not be a more acrimonious relationship between fanbase and manager in the sport of baseball than the New York Yankees’ frustrations and agitations with Aaron Boone.
Across six seasons, the Yankees have made the World Series only once as Boone’s teams have not performed well in the postseason. Sometimes, it’s how the manager sets the team up to begin with. Sometimes, it’s the players’ fault. Other times, it’s the in-game decisions which baffle and confuse to leave some fans with little hope that the right choice will ever be made.
On Tuesday night, in Game 1 of the three-game American League Wild Card series against the rival Boston Red Sox, all three of those reasons were on full display.
The Yankees got out to an early lead from an unlikely source when struggling shortstop Anthony Volpe smacked a one-run home run in the bottom of the second inning.
It would be the only run the Yankees scored all night. Meanwhile, the Yankees missed the productive bats of Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm (at least, for all but one at bat) and Boone’s choice to pull hot starter Max Fried led to a collapse and a 3-1 defeat.
Even when the Yankees had hope, it fell apart. The ninth inning started with three singles on three pitches as Paul Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger loaded the bases off Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman.
Aaron Boone once again mis-managed the Yankees back to the brink of elimination

The Yankees bats were mostly ineffective, losing to the rival Red Sox 3-1 in the Wild Card
And then the hype stopped. Slugger Giancarlo Stanton struck out, Chisholm (who came in for one at-bat) flew out to right field, and Trent Grisham fanned on a high and tight 101mph fastball to end the night in disappointment.
Going into the evening, Yankees fans were irate that Chisholm and Rice were benched in favor of second-baseman Ahmed Rosario and Goldschmidt.
Rosario only took 15 at-bats in the month of September and hit exactly on the Mendoza line at .200. Goldschmidt was faring slightly better at .245, but still only had two RBIs.
Meanwhile, Chisholm hit five homers and 13 RBI while batting .261. But Rice’s absence was the most egregious considering he’s the team’s second-hottest hitter – batting .316 in September.
Chisholm was fuming over Boone’s decision, which he only found out via a text message.
The irate second-baseman kept his back turned to reporters when answering post-game questions and offered only short responses.
When asked if he was surprised he wasn’t starting, he simply replied, ‘I guess, yeah.’ Asked again what the conversation between him and Boone looked like when he found out about the manager’s choice, Chisholm said, ‘Just a little conversation, not much, but, ya know, yeah.’
At least Chisholm got to bat (even though that’s little consolation). Rice didn’t dig in at the plate once.
In fairness to Boone, Goldschmidt did hit well – batting 2-for-4 on the night. But his age and slow speed prevented him from potentially running home on Bellinger’s ninth-inning single – leaving him to eternally stand on third to watch his teammates fail in three-straight attempts to bring him home.
Boone benched two of his best bats – Ben Rice (L) and Jazz Chisholm (R) – to start the game
An upset Chisholm, who had only one at-bat tonight, kept his back turned to reporters
Which brings us to point two. The Yankees had one runner in scoring position in the first inning of the game.
After Goldschmidt opened the game with a single, Judge poked a hit to get him to second base. Cue a Bellinger strikeout and a Stanton double-play, and the Yankees stranded a runner in scoring position.
The good news is that the Yankees would not strand a runner in scoring position for the next seven innings. The bad news is that the Yankees didn’t strand a runner in scoring position because they didn’t have ANY runners in scoring position between the first and ninth innings.
Only four Yankees players managed hits on the night: Goldschmidt, Judge, Bellinger, and the aforementioned Volpe.
Volpe was a particular surprise, considering he was one of the worst hitters on the Yankees roster. But he still managed to sock a home run and then added a single later in the game.
Everyone else was an 0-fer. Stanton struck out twice and grounded out twice, including into a double play. Rosario was left unmercifully out to dry and whither at the plate as Chisholm waited and waited. Grisham, catcher Austin Wells, and third-baseman Jose Caballero were left to walk back to the dugout time after time after time.
The total damage was thus: seven hits on 33 at-bats. All of this may belittle what should go down as an elite outing from Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet.
The Red Sox star and Cy Young front-runner tossed 117 pitches – the most by a Boston pitcher since Jon Lester in 2008 – and sat down eleven Yankee batters across seven-and-two-thirds innings of pitching.
Barring four batters, the Yankees’ bats (including that of Giancarlo Stanton) were silent
Boone’s decision to pull starter Max Fried was a major blunder – despite him hitting 102 pitches
After yanking Fried, the Yankees’ next pitcher gave up two runs to break the game open
With Crochet given his praise, it’s time for the third error of the night: Boone’s bullpen decision making.
Throughout his entire tenure, Boone’s pitching management has routinely been a source of criticism. Tonight was no different.
Fried went six-and-a-third innings of pitching – striking out six Red Sox rivals and holding Boston to just four hits and zero earned runs.
In the top of the seventh, he managed to get slugger Jarren Duran to ground out to first base.
And then? Boone walked out of the dugout and to the mound, pointed to his bullpen, and took the ball from Fried.
Speaking after the game on his choice to pull his ace, Boone said, ‘They pressured him pretty good in the fourth, fifth, sixth [innings]… I felt like he had to work pretty hard and I was gonna have the sixth be the end. But once we finished with the double play, I wanted him to go out and get Duran.’
Fried maintained that he ‘definitely felt good at the end’ and added, ‘I’m going to stay in until I get the ball taken from me. I want to pitch as long as I possibly can.’
In his place, Boone brought in struggling reliever Luke Weaver. Weaver walked outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela, gave up a double to nine-hole hitter Nick Sogard, and then followed that up with a game-breaking single to Masataka Yoshida to score both Rafaela and Sogard to take a 2-1 lead.
Red Sox starter Garrett Crochet (L) tossed 7.2 innings and struck out 11 Yankees batters
The final run of the night came off a double from Yankee villain Alex Bregman
Boone pulled Weaver and brought in Fernando Cruz to finish the seventh before calling in Devin Williams to get the Yankees through the ninth.
Under the pressure of a one-run game, closer David Bednar struck out Sogard and got Yoshida to ground-out – only for Trevor Story to single and then steal second.
Up stepped Alex Bregman, a player who gave the Yankees nightmares for years with the Houston Astros. He delivered another with a double pulled down the third-base line to score Story and bring us to our final score.
And so, the Yankees have their backs against the wall for one final time. Boone will face what could be the final game of his season as New York stares at elimination.
Boston is set to start Brayan Bello – who has a 3.35 ERA overall and a 1.89 ERA against the Yankees [having given up only four earned runs].
New York, meanwhile, tosses the ball to Carlos Rodon – who has a 3.09 ERA overall, but a 5.74 ERA against the Red Sox [having given up 10 earned runs].