Corey Kluber let his emotions surface after he recorded the last out of his no-hitter on Wednesday night, which Aaron Boone knows isn’t a common occurrence for the veteran righty.
But throwing the first no-hitter of his career and the first by a Yankee since 1999 was enough justification for a smile and a pair of arms in the air in triumph after the final out was recorded.
“As you might imagine, Corey doesn’t give you a great read one way or the other – no-hitter or not his best, you won’t know any difference from him,” Boone said on his weekly segment with Carton & Roberts. “He’s disciplined and workmanlike and keeps the blinders on. But what a fun night to be a part of.”
Boone is much more likely to allow himself to feel the emotions of a historic night, but the challenge came in making sure he was level-headed enough to stay in the game, which was far from being decided as the later innings arrived. Kluber was chasing history, but the Yanks were chasing a coveted win, and held just a 2-0 lead by the sixth inning. So Boone had to manage bullpen strategies while also acknowledging that his starter needed to stay on the mound if he was to become a part of the exclusive no-hit club.
“Every dugout is different – Texas is a deep dugout and you drop down, so I didn’t feel like I was a part of what was going on behind me,” Boone said. “Higgy told me he was nervous and I had no idea he was hyperventilating. Before the eighth, I walked over to Mike Harkey, and said if we get in some trouble here we’ll probably want [Jonathan Loaisiga] up and he said “nope!” Before the ninth, Hark beat me to it and said Chappy needs some time getting going, we should probably get him up just in case. Those last two innings, the first time me being part of that in uniform, it was really neat.
All the butterflies, and you overreact to every ball, but Corey was in complete command. What a performance.”
Boone also had to consider Kluber himself, who looked dominant with nine strikeouts and just one walk, but was still in the early stages of a season that followed two before that totaled just 36.2 innings due to injuries. Fortunately, Kluber was so efficient that he finished the night with just 101 pitches, but it was something Boone had to consider as the outs approached the magic number of 27.
“I think you’re gonna let a guy go,” Boone said. “You have to pay attention and feel like you’re not putting someone in harm’s way, which trumps everything, but I think the criteria changes when a guy is chasing down history because he’s throwing incredibly well.”
Boone had never been part of a no-hitter as a player or manager, and while he had no previous history to compare it to, he felt like Kluber and the Yankees were in for a special night early into Kluber’s outing.
“The first inning, but you have those throwaway thoughts throughout the year,” Boone said when asked when the idea of a potential no-hitter entered his mind. “I noticed pretty early though and felt he was pretty sharp, and his repertoire was a good matchup against their hitters, so it was honestly in my mind the whole time.”
Once Kluber got a groundout to Gleyber Torres to finish off the sixth no-hitter this season and the Yankees first in over two decades, Boone was finally able to take off his manager cap and enjoy the euphoria that unfolded on the field as Kluber’s teammates mobbed him on the infield grass.
“Usually you go right to the coaches and you embrace everyone, but consciously, I stepped out and tried to see as many peoples’ reactions as I could in real time and take that in,” Boone said. “It was fun to kind of see the reactions and watching everyone run in.”
Boone took it in even more when he got back to his hotel in Texas, reliving the moments that may have slipped by when he was focused on the managerial parts of a game that was far from decided until the final out.
“Getting back to the hotel, I kind of sat and watched the last inning on replay and watched MLB Network break it down so I could drink it in, which I really enjoyed,” Boone said. “I was a little emotional seeing it again; in this job, there’s so much adversity you face throughout a year, and for us as a team, what we’ve been going through, it felt like a month-long road trip, so to have that kind of moment…I think it’s imp sometimes to stop and appreciate the great things, because you know what the players go through to prepare to help that moment to happen.”
Listen to Boone’s full interview with Carton & Roberts below!
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