AL WILDCARD GAME: RED SOX VS YANKEES

October 4, 2021

Aaron Boone

Fenway Park

New York Yankees

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. What did you think the environment will be like here at Fenway?

AARON BOONE: Amazing. I think the last couple times we've been here, when we came here in the summer and then obviously last week, you know, there's a buzz here. It matters here. It's fun to compete in games here. It's tough to compete in games here. Yeah, I think there will be some tension, electricity. Everything you could hope for for a winner-take-all game in the playoffs and to two outstanding franchises and teams.

Q. Gerrit Cole has not necessarily looked like himself the last few times. What does he need to do to start looking like the guy we saw earlier in the season?

AARON BOONE: I don't think it's far off at all. I think the stuff is there. I think going back to the Cleveland game where he struggled, I think he struggled way less than the line suggested. I think in Toronto the other day, you know, they banged him for a couple hole runs on a couple of just-missed heaters.

So I think everything is there for him to put it together tomorrow. It's just about, you know, executing in the right quadrants against a good team.

Q. Do you have a lineup yet?

AARON BOONE: No.

Q. And you guys lost the first seven to Boston this year and then won six of the last six. Is there anything to that, to how you've played better against them of late than you did earlier in the year?

AARON BOONE: I think we are a better team and are playing better when we've played them more recently and I think in those first -- was it seven -- probably a handful of them were really competitive games that didn't go our way. But I feel like a couple of those times maybe we weren't playing at our best. I think part of that is us kind of righting the ship a little bit here, especially in the second half of the season, kind of after that post Fourth of July.

But you know, I think we've seen that happen in the course of this rivalry over the years. You get hot for a little stretch against them or not. But I think it will be two really competitive teams.

Q. As someone who is part of this rivalry as a member of the New York Yankees, how do you feel about the single game elimination wild-card game, Yankees/Red Sox?

AARON BOONE: If we win, I'll feel great about it.

Look, I mean, it's probably not perfect this way, but you also live to be in these kind of competitive environments and with a ton the line. We feel like as a team we've been playing for a while now with a lot on the line, certainly the last week and ten days and two weeks, but even going back a couple of months. And now we truly are at the must-win portion of the schedule, you know. So I was asked all week about is this must-win? Tomorrow is must win, right. We've got to win or we're done.

I think as a competitor -- and that's what you sign up for and you hope to be in these scenarios where you're playing a meaningful game to move on to something more special. We'll embrace that, look forward to tomorrow. And I know we'll walk out there with a lot of confidence and expect to play well and give it our best shot.

Q. When there was going to be a possibility of a four-way tie, you guys had picked to play at Fenway Park, which I know had something to do with avoiding the international travel. But now that this is going to happen, do you guys feel a little bit better about yourselves and your odds in this ballpark because of what happened in the last series here?

AARON BOONE: Look, I think one thing -- whenever I've been asked about momentum in baseball, I never knew what to answer until 2003 coming over here, and you know, being a part of that team, playing against a great Red Sox team. And I used to hear that all the time. We would win a game and they would grab the momentum and they would beat the crap out of us the next day. It's like, okay, I don't know what any of it means. I know we're a good team. I know when we play well, we can beat anyone.

I think maybe partly us having a good week last week gives us a little added confidence coming in here, like, okay, we can do this. But had we lost two out of three last week, I think frankly we'd feel the same way walking in here. As I've said, all along with our guys even in the lowest moments, I do feel like there's an underlying confidence with them and I think we'll walk out on that field with that confidence expecting to win tomorrow.

Q. Do you have an update on how Gio Urshela is doing and your confidence level in him being able to play at his normal level tomorrow?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, I think he's going to be good. Saw Gio -- he's actually getting some treatment about an hour and a half ago back at the hotel and saw him at brunch this morning. He was a little stiff but actually felt pretty good. I think if there was a game today, he'd be playing.

Again, I think we got incredibly fortunate in that situation. Because as you know, it really scared me watching him launch in there from my angle. So, you know, he might be a little stiff or whatever, but I don't think it will have much impact.

Q. I don't think we asked you last night, is it a knee? Thigh? Bruise? What is it for Gio?

AARON BOONE: More he bruised his thigh. That's where he slammed the most. He's got a little cut on his calf/shin area but mostly banged his thigh.

Q. And he went straight down the steps, is that the thing?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, I was expecting him to go over into a car accident and the Jaws of Life being out or something, seriously. I was really, really nervous.

Q. You talked about if someone was walking into your clubhouse, you wouldn't want them to know if you guys had won eight in a row or lost eight in a row. Do you think that comes from growing up in a baseball family or is there some other influence that helps give that you serenity?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, I think sometimes you are who you are and you are a product of what you grew up in, I guess. I'm sure that is something that shaped me in that regard. So yeah, you know, I think that's a good question, actually, that I haven't thought about. There probably is something to that.

Look, I just think it's a 162-game season. It's a grind. It's a game of failure. You know, unlike other sports even, the best teams win 60 percent of the time, and you've got to be able to deal with that. And you see -- you see teams, you see players, you see talented players that can't handle that that go by the wayside.

So there's a makeup quality there that I think you have to have as a club if you're going to kind of survive the inevitable grind of the Major League season.

Q. In a similar vein, the fact that you had a dad that did the job you were doing that was fired twice allows you to not worry about your status here; you know it's a talking point in what's going on around this team.

AARON BOONE: Yes, I really don't.

Q. Do you think the fact that your dad did it influences that?

AARON BOONE: I'm sure that's part of it. I'm sure my faith has something to do with it, my family. You know, this is my livelihood. This has been a huge part of my life. I love it. Means a lot to me. But in the end, it's not everything.

Q. As you go back constructing a lineup for so many, is Gleyber Torres locked into that lead-off spot or would you consider Gardner or Rizzo there?

AARON BOONE: I don't know. As I'm sitting here right now, I'm thinking probably Gleyber, but I'll sit and get with Mendy and the coaches tonight and see exactly the way I want to go. But I think there's a good chance it will be Gleyber.

Q. Is there something that was changed in Luke Voit's condition that he was put on the 60?

AARON BOONE: No. It was more just probably the reality that he wasn't going to be in play for us and then giving us a little bit of flexibility there.

Q. Are you keeping Kyle behind the plate with Gerrit Cole tomorrow?

AARON BOONE: Yes.

Q. And so what does that mean for Gary, is he your DH?

AARON BOONE: No, not necessarily. Again, we'll sit down and do that. But no, it means he's potentially a bat off the bench, but you know, we'll talk through it and potentially DH, but no, probably bat off the bench.

Q. You talked about the concept of momentum, and as a man who is known in this town as Aaron F'ing Boone, do you believe in a concept of clutch hitting in a situation like that?

AARON BOONE: Yeah, I do think guys are more equipped to handle tougher situations. We probably overstate it at times, though, too. Sometimes it is a product of a guy being locked in or not locked in or just going through a tough stretch. But I think there's no question that some people are more equipped to handle more difficult, more pressure-packed situations, more clutch situations.

So while I think we probably take it a little far sometimes, I absolutely think it's a real thing.

Q. If J.D. Martinez can't play tomorrow night, how much of an impact do you think that will have on the Red Sox lineup?

AARON BOONE: Obviously he's a great hitter. So, yeah, that's an important cog in a really good offense that wouldn't be available. But, you know, they can also mix-and-match other ways that make it difficult as well. So I would imagine he would be in there.

Q. As a guy who likes baseball, how much can you appreciate two All-Star starters pitching in a game like this, two guys who know their teams they are facing very well.

AARON BOONE: I appreciate it. I'm more focused on our guys and making sure we're ready to go and have a good idea what we want to do and just hopefully help our guys carry out our plan as best as possible. Obviously Evo's been a really good pitcher here for them. It's a great matchup. It's two great teams. It's two historic, great rivalry and two great pitchers matched up against one another.

So I think it's a good thing for baseball, but you know, we'll be uber-focused on just making sure we go handle our business.

Q. What's it been like to be like back in a more normal situation in the playoffs, whereas last year, all the different things you had to go through, neutral site and in a bubble. And what do you think of the protocols so far? Are they easier to handle than everything you went through last year?

AARON BOONE: Oh, yeah. I mean, last year was so challenging on so many fronts. Just learning as all of us were, learning on the fly, and it was tough. You know, I think the way I put it was a heavy year, especially dealing with things that were going on in our country, pandemic, social issues. It's a tough, hard, you know, in a lot of ways, sad year.

We are fortunate to be able to get to play a season. It was a privilege to do so. But it was hard. You know, this year on that front's been way better, and I think we know how to handle it and survive in it and live in it, while also being way less restrictive than obviously last year.

So I don't know, I think we're kind of just conditioned to kind of handle it and deal with it now to where it's not too much of a distraction to what we're trying to do between the lines.