Compared to his fiery predecessor Joe Girardi, Yankees skipper Aaron Boone tends to keep things pretty even keel … except on July 18, 2019.
We all have a breaking point and Boone reached his in the second inning of New York’s afternoon tilt (the first game of a day/night doubleheader in the Bronx) with division-rival Tampa Bay. No fan of Brennan Miller’s strike zone at home plate, Boone took to heckling the rookie umpire from his nearby dugout perch. Still steaming from a questionable call that rung up Brett Gardner in the previous at-bat, Boone went ballistic after another suspect strike on DJ LeMahieu, prompting the manager’s immediate ejection. Before handing the lineup card to bench coach Josh Bard, Boone decided to pay Miller a visit behind the plate, getting his money’s worth with a NSFW (earmuffs) diatribe for the ages.
“My guys are f---ing savages in that f---ing box,” Boone said, continuing to unload on Miller. “You’re having a piece of s--- start to this game. I feel bad for you, but get f---ing better. That guy is a good pitcher. But our guys are f---ing savages in that box.”
I’ll never forgive Boone for taking a sledgehammer to my childhood in 2003, but even I admit, this explosion was a Shakespearean stroke of verbal genius. Daniel Day-Lewis never gave a performance this compelling. With one iconic catchphrase, “savages in the box,” Boone entered the pantheon of all-time sports rants, joining a proud fraternity inhabited by the likes of Herm Edwards (“You. Play. To. Win. The. Game.”), Jim Mora (“Playoffs?!”), the late Dennis Green (“They are who we thought they were!”) and of course, practice-eschewing Sixers bad boy Allen Iverson. And let’s not overlook Gardner’s equally unhinged reaction, pounding the dugout roof like he was trying to fix a leak.
From the off-the-cuff “savages” line to the brilliantly condescending “I feel bad for you” diss, every word uttered by Boone was comedic gold. Not that it needed anything extra, but Boone’s breathtaking “tighten that s--- up” finale (complete with a “wake the hell up” clap for emphasis) was the perfect mic drop, the whipped cream and cherry on top of a delicious meltdown sundae. And it all went down one year ago today.
Thanks for the memories, Aaron. Hot mics for the win.
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