Bench coach Carlos Mendoza, affectionately known as “Mendy,” will be the one piloting the Yankees in Aaron Boone’s absence after the true skipper underwent heart surgery on Wednesday.
Mendoza and the rest of the coaching staff were among the first to find out that Boone would be away from the team indefinitely after the procedure, as they got to chat with the skipper early Wednesday morning.
“I’m not going to say I wasn’t surprised, but after talking to him this morning while he was at the hospital, he made me feel really good,” Mendoza told the media ahead of the Yankees’ Wednesday night game. “The way he was talking, I felt good about it, and it made everyone feel a lot better to see his face.”
According to Mendoza, Boone not only managed to make the daily Zoom meeting with the coaches, he also was his usual jocular self during the session.
“We know who he is, but after talking to him this morning, as the conversation progressed and we saw him smiling and joking around, it was great,” Mendoza said. “It goes back to the type of leader and person he is.”
That type of person is one who cares about the well-being of everyone in his purview on and off the field, even at the expense of his own well-being at times.
“We all know what type of person Boonie is, and how much he cares about all of us on and off the field. He’s a brother, a father, and a friend to all of us,” Mendoza said. “We are all praying for his family, and for him for a quick recovery, but knowing Boonie, he wants to make sure we’re all here staying positive and continuing to get our work in.”
That seemed to be Boone’s message according to Mendoza and multiple players – hold the fort down, because the mindset doesn’t change – but the interim skipper said the players finding out from Boone himself, and not through a news leak, helped assuage everyone right away.
“The key was to get out in front of it. We had all the players get on a Zoom call to learn about the situation, and we shared a video Boonie recorded so they could see his mindset,” Mendoza said. “There were some questions, but by doing that before the news came out, it helped the situation and made us all feel better. We’ll miss him, but the message was keep going about things the way we have.”
Of course, you can understand if any of the Yankees on the field Wednesday night played with a little bit heavier conscience than usual, but to Mendoza, it will be business as usual.
“We were very surprised when we got the message, but we have to go play. We’re all grown adults and have to compartmentalize things,” Mendoza said. “He’ll be in our thoughts until he gets back, but we have to go do our thing. We will continue to communicate among the coaches, and communicate with the players on their plans and schedules daily. We have a really good group of coaches, and our goal is to continue to get these guys ready for the regular season.”
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