FROM BOTTOM OF HIS HEART
Boone put Bombers at ease with how he handled news of his surgery
TAMPA — Brett Gardner looks back at that passing comment a little differently now. The other day, the veteran outfielder passed his manager in the hallway. Aaron Boone asked how the 37-year-old was feeling after his first few days in spring training.
“I told him I was doing great, my normal self. And I asked him how he was doing,” Gardner said Wednesday night after learning that Boone had to have surgery to implant a pacemaker. “He mentioned to me that he was a little tired. Obviously, looking back on it, that’s one of the reasons why he probably wasn’t feeling 100% that day.”
But it was only in hindsight that the Yankees knew that Boone had been feeling fatigue, lightheadedness and shortness of breath for the past six weeks.
Wednesday afternoon, the Yankees announced that Boone was having surgery at a local Tampa hospital to have the pacemaker implanted. It was 12 years after Boone, then a 36-year-old infielder with the Astros, had open-heart surgery to repair a congenital defect in one of his aortic valves.
The news pretty much shocked the Yankees clubhouse.
“I think it was a shock to most of us. I definitely think that most of the players were surprised by what was going on,” Gardner said. “I wasn’t aware of what was going on with him… He mentioned to me a few days ago that he was tired, just kind of passing in the hallway.”
Giancarlo Stanton said he was “very surprised.”
“Just because of how he’s been acting normal and how well he’s been able to cope with what he’s been going through. Just shows how strong the person is that we obviously already knew. This takes it to the next level,” Stanton said. “We’re all in his corner. He knows we all love him and we hope he’s back soon.”
But the way the Yankees players found out was not a shock to Gardner or his teammates. Boone taped a video for the players from his hospital bed to break the news to them before it was publicly announced.
“I think the key was to get up in front of it. We had the whole camp, all the players get on a zoom call, and kind of got up in front of the situation,” Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza said. “We shared a video that we recorded with Boonie so they could see Boonie’s reaction and mindset that he was in. So I think by doing that, before the news came out, helped the situation here in the clubhouse.
“I go back to the message from Boonie. He just wanted us to continue to work to get our work in, continue to go the right way, the same way we’ve been doing here and that made all of us feel a lot better and definitely players inside in our locker room. There were some questions but at the end of the day, seeing Boonie makes all of us feel a lot better about the situation.”
It didn’t surprise his players — even the ones he is just getting to know — that he would be thinking about their schedules and work as he was awaiting his procedure Wednesday.
“I think it’s been pretty clear from the little bit of time I’ve spent here, but I think, it just kind of reaffirms how much he cares about the guys in the clubhouse,” Corey Kluber said. “To take the time to make a video to send because he was worried about how we were going to receive the news and just, you know, try to put our minds at ease and stuff. We’re not the ones that are there going through the procedure or anything like that. I think it’s like I said, I just think it just speaks volumes to how much he cares about the guys in the clubhouse, the people who work the organization and everybody.”