Yankees: It’s time to show some support to Aaron Boone

It’s time to give Boone some credit. He just led this Yankees team to a 17-2 record against some of the toughest teams the AL has to offer. He consistently proclaims that struggling players are close to turning it around, and in some cases, he’s been proven right. For example, he refused to give up on Neil Walker and lately that seems to have paid off.

Walker has been a huge spark plug for the Yanks in almost all of their late-inning comebacks, after struggling through April and being a prominent target of angry fans. His emergence culminated in a walk-off single in yesterday’s extra-inning game against the Athletics. This is just one example of Boone’s optimism and unwavering support of his players paying off.

He’s become adept at dodging dangerous questions from reporters about the struggling player of the day and instead has used those questions to praise the player’s hard work and build up their confidence.

He’s also kept the clubhouse incredibly loose and easy-going despite all of the position battles, roster questions, and huge expectations heaped upon the team, allowing the team to really click off the field. This is evident on the field too, with this team’s “never quit” swagger becoming one of the hallmarks of the early season as the Yanks continue to rack up comeback victories.

Since it is so hard to quantify the effect this can have on a team, most tend to focus on the obvious effects manager’s decisions can have on a game. Mainly through their in-game moves, which can be an imperfect exercise.