Michael Kay claims 2004 Yankees furious at team in post-elimination Aaron Boone rant

If not for Aaron Boone’s knee injury in the 2003-04 offseason, the Yankees might never have ended up with Alex Rodriguez, and Alfonso Soriano could’ve been in the lineup for a critical ALCS showdown (and eventual collapse) against the Red Sox instead.

If not for Aaron Boone’s incompetence at managing a bullpen and inability to quell locker room concerns, the 2022 Yankees might’ve avoided a similarly embarrassing ALCS fate.

Right at the horn, the Yankees managed to make one last catastrophic error down three games to none on Sunday when someone in the organization tried to show the team video clips of the 2004 Red Sox upending the team’s dynastic magic once and for all by completing a 3-0 comeback of their own.

It didn’t work, and this supposed “motivational tactic” angered Michael Kay to no end in the wake of the predictable four-game sweep that followed.

It angered some members of that still-embarrassed 2004 team, too, leaving the modern-day Yankees to answer questions they probably never expected to field. According to Kay’s epic post-loss rant, the 2004 Yankees he’s checked in with were “outraged” that videos of their lowest low were used as motivation for the current team.

Michael Kay furious at Yankees for 2004 debacle, Aaron Boone’s ALCS moves

Any guesses which ’04 Yankees? John Flaherty is obviously on the Yankees’ YES Network coverage. Bernie Williams was trotted out to toss the first pitch before Sunday’s loss. No matter who’s being referenced here, it’s difficult to imagine any 2004 Yankees endorsing the move.

And Kay didn’t stop his torching there. This also wasn’t his first recent rant that featured a changed tone about Boone’s ability to manage this team moving forward; the YES panel went vehemently anti-Boone after Game 3.

The voice of the Yankees went all in on Boone’s bullpen management taking a competitive series (or, at least, a series New York could theoretically compete in) into a laughing stock. He also drudged up the offseason moves that Brian Cashman wishes could just disappear.

When the story of the 2022 Yankees is written, it won’t include a 2004 Red Sox-like collapse, but it will include that wretched season as a footnote and example of how quickly someone can lose the room.

Whoever’s responsible for that video being shared — and the information leaking — should lose their job.

In a perfect world, he wouldn’t be the only one.