FAITH REWARDED
Boone wins first game as manager; Cashman still confident in decision
TORONTO — The Aaron Boone era got off to an ideal start Thursday.
“It was great,” Boone said after earning his first victory as Yankees manager with a 6-1 victory over the Blue Jays. “It was definitely fun to do for real and get off on a good note.”
It was the first step in a season that is filled with sky-high expectations, and general manager Brian Cashman said he’s just as confident in his new manager as he was when he hired him to replace Joe Girardi.
“The process that served us well by producing Joe Girardi, I believe, has served us well by producing Aaron Boone and nothing over the last six weeks in Tampa has changed that feeling in any way, shape or form,” Cashman said before the game.
“He’s an exceptional baseball person and I believe a quality leader. I have no second-guessing … or concerns.”
Whether that remains the case over the course of the season is up to Boone, who had never coached or managed before being tabbed to take over the team when Girardi wasn’t brought back following the Yankees’ Game 7 loss to Houston in the ALCS.
A lineup stacked with Giancarlo Stanton — who homered twice Thursday — Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez should make Boone’s life easier, as will performances like the one he got from Luis Severino.
Boone acknowledged he would certainly have to deal with the unexpected at some point this season.
“That’s part of sports,” Boone said before the game. “There’s a lot of comfort in knowing you’re prepared. In sports and life, things come up and throw you curveballs. You’ve got to roll with it and be able to handle it.”
Cashman said he believes Boone will be up to the challenge.
“He’s earned the right to be here,’’ Cashman said. “He deserves to be in that dugout and the only thing he deserves more now is for us to give everything we’ve got to support him from the staff and on the field.”
Boone said he heard from his father, Bob, who played and managed in the majors, on Wednesday night.
“He’s usually pretty low-key and he was [Wednesday] night,” Boone said. “He said, ‘Good luck, have fun.’ My Mom sent me a lot of emojis [Thursday] morning. A lot of hearts, prayers, the whole bit. It’s a nice balance there: my Mom fires off emojis and my Dad’s kind of chill.” So far, Cashman is, too. “It’s kind of like watching our players compete on the field,” Cashman said. “It’s no different to see how they’re reacting. I’m very comfortable with our decision on Aaron Boone, so I’m not focused on Aaron. I’m more focused on batter-pitcher confrontations that will be transpiring.”
Throughout the spring, Cashman said Boone “reinforced” the Yankees’ decision to take a chance on him.
“Like any job interview in an industry, you can get fooled in inter- views,” Cashman said of the ninehour meeting Boone had with the GM and his staff as one of six candidates to interview for the job. “Nothing’s changed since coming out of that interview. He is everything we thought he could be and this is the next phase of that, the regular season. Now the games count.”
And he got his first win out of the way.
“It was good to get him his first win, especially in his first game,” reliever Dellin Betances said.