By Alex Cohen-Smith
With the playoffs just a few days away, it’s important for all you fans out there to do everything you can to help your team. Wear team colors at work. Change your Facebook picture to your the logo of your favorite team. Spread rumors about co-workers who root for opposing teams. And relive the great moments in the history of your team.
The last one might be the most important. Dodgers fans need to watch the video of Kirk Gibson’s game-winning World Series homerun. Phillies fans need to watch every game from last years playoffs again in an attempt to bring Brad Lidge back to life. Yankees fans….well Yankees fans haven’t had much to cheer about when it comes to playoff time this decade. There has been a lot of hype, which has led to nothing more than a lot of disappointment.
My solution: Watch Aaron Boone’s homerun from 2003. I did it today. And yesterday. And the day before that. It just makes me feel better about life in general and as playoff time approaches it just helped to remind me how good playoff time used to be for the Yankees.
I was lucky enough to sit down with Boone when he stopped by our office. There was no chance I was going to pass up the opportunity to hear from the man himself about one of the greatest baseball moments of my lifetime. Here’s the video of Boone talking about the home run:
If you could sit down and talk with one player who would it be?
steinersports
Eric: Autograph Handler
Bald Vinny
costelloswingsforthefences
Colby Brin
Here’s one more question you could have asked him: “Aaron, do you know you have a special nickname in Boston?” I bet he knows what it is! Even though the Sox have won 2 championships since then, that nickname (and memory) remains.
Just like any other diehard fan, I remember exactly where I was when he hit that ball of Wake. In my best friend Ari’s living room. The ball went off his bat. I put my head down. Tears. Even his dog, Ty (named after Ty Law) was depressed. I walked outside and looked up at the stars and cursed the day of my birth. And Grady Little’s. And Jeter’s. And Matsui’s.
The great thing about sports, though, is that the next year the exact opposite can happen. He made me cry one year. Then I cried the next year. Those goddamned BoSox just love a great drama.
Perhaps what upsets me more about that game, to this day, is that he was never a good player. I wasn’t even nervous seeing him with a bat. My only condolence is the fact that he’s never played well again. Thank God.