In the history of the New York Yankees, Ralph Houke is the only manager that has lasted seven consecutive seasons without winning a World Series, as he took over early in 1966 and left after 1973 without a ring – but, he had won ; that was Ralph Houk, who was at the helm from 1966-73 – but Houk, at least, had won in ’61 and ’62 and won the pennant in ’63 in his first tenure, so he did have two rings.
If the Yankees don’t have a parade in the Canyon of Heroes next month, Aaron Boone will join Houk’s company of seven-plus straight seasons and no rings – and while we know the Yankees love Boonie, his contract is up this year (although the team has an option on him for 2025), so should we be worried about his job security?
“I don't think he's even thinking that far ahead. You know how it is in New York, and I realize it’s a tough spot, but I’ve also had heart-to-heart talks with him going, ‘well, you know when you sign on the dotted line to be the skipper of the New York Yankees, you know what comes with that, and that's a lot more scrutiny than maybe other skippers around the league,” Bret said. “I remember when he was signing back, I said, you get a chance to be the Yankees’ skipper, you don’t walk away. That’s where you want to be; you want to be on that hot seat, have your feet to that fire every day, because if you win a World Series in New York, you got the key to the city for the rest of your life.”
And that, Bret said, is the mindset Aaron has had for seven years.
“His perspective is I want to be in the hottest pot boiling to manage, and I don't think Aaron thinks too far ahead. He's thinking about winning tonight and not worried about getting fired,” Bret said. “I think he’s done a great job, but he's been getting fired, you know, four or five times along his journey. I’m always going to look out for my brother, but I try to be as analytical and fair as I can without the bias, and when I look at his body of work, the 100-win seasons and the postseasons a lot of times in his tenure, they come with ups and downs; with the injuries they’ve had, to still make the postseason most of the time, especially in this current climate?”
That climate, to Bret, means it’s an easier party to get into, but a harder one to be the king of.
“It's the easiest ever in the history of the game to qualify for the postseason, but once you get in, I argue it’s tougher than ever to win a World Series,” Bret said. “You have to go through so many layers, and with the rules, all these hot teams are getting in. Nobody expected Texas and Arizona last year, but I think today's different; the 162 isn't as important, and as an ex-player, I hate that, because 162 is what it's about. You stand on the top of the mountain after 162, that’s an accomplishment.”
He loves it as a fan, though, because ‘more teams is more entertaining, and good for baseball,’ so the dichotomy lives – and hopefully, so, too, does his brother live to see another season in the Bronx.
“I think he’s worried about winning tonight, and if they were to lose somewhere along the line, I'm sure you'll hear the naysayers saying you should fire him,” Bret said. “I played for a long time, and I never remember sitting around having a beer after the game with my teammates, and MF’ing the skipper, saying, ‘man, he really screwed us tonight, without him we’d really win it all.’ What I see from the outside is players love him, and he obviously has their back, sometimes to a fault, but at the end of the day, he does a really good job. Players win games, and managers tend to lose them, and managers are hired to be fired, but at you know, at the end of the day, you get a special group, that doesn’t come along that often to win a World Series. My first time, I got bounced by the Yankees and thought I’d be beack, and I never got to win one. I understand the New York thing, and Aaron understands it, and I think he's just worried about winning now, and he'll worry about all that stuff later.”