Reliving My Memory of the 2003 ALCS Game 7

Right now MLB Network is airing their 20 Greatest Games series with #6. The game? 2003 ALCS Game 7, the Aaron Boone walk-off game. I'm currently on a bus on my way back from--of all places--Boston so I will be watching it later on Tivo. But while any mention of that game brings a smile to my face, it's about time that I relived the memory of that game on NYaT.

Victory!

I'm not sure there was ever a game in my entire life that had the up-and-down emotion of this game. Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals as a Rangers fan was close (and the recent comeback against the Bruins by the Rangers brought those emotions back in a bid way). But regardless of how emotional this game was, it was so much more emotional for me. I was a sophomore at Brandeis University. Brandeis is in Waltham, Massachusetts, a close suburb of Boston. Many of my school-mates were Red Sox fans and I had just started doing a radio show with Ben W and Jay which was full of Red Sox callers wanting to tell us how the Sawks were going to kick the Yankees butts all over the place.

I decided to go watch Game 7 with a mixed group of people. Mixed as in some Yankees fans, some Red Sox fans and some agnostics. I stayed about 30 minutes as the Yankees early hole left the Red Sox fans arrogant and ready to celebrate. If the Yankees were going to do go down in 2003, I was going to be sitting in Jay and my room watching it sans "Red Sox Nation".

As soon as Jay and I got back to our room, the tide starting turning. I paced around the room as the Yankees slowly ate away at the Red Sox lead and when Grady Little left Pedro Martinez in, Jay and I were hopeful for the first time all night. There was a chance. We couldn't sit, we couldn't stand still...we could hardly even watch.

And then Jorge Posada's hit fell and we went nuts. Like nuts-nuts. Like the type of nuts that make your college neighbors really mad at you.

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Farewell to Aaron Boone

On Thursday, October 16, 2003, Aaron Boone forever endeared himself to Yankees fans with a majestic shot into a cold October night in one of the last great memories from the old Yankee Stadium during Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series. That homerun was my top sports memory from the past decade and one of those highlights that will never get old seeing over and over again. The Yankees wouldn't win the World Series and Boone would blow out his knee in the off-season (ushering in A-Rod), but it wouldn't matter much; Boone had permanently etched out a place in the hearts of Yankees fans everywhere. Today, after 12 major league seasons, Boone formally announced his retirement and will become an analyst for ESPN.

Boone debuted in 1997 for the Cincinnati Reds but really started to come on in 2000 and 2001 with slashes of .285/.356/.471 and .294/.351/.483, respectively. In 2003, he was enjoying probably his best year in baseball when he was traded to the Yankees at the trading deadline for pitching prospects Brandon Claussen, Charlie Manning, and cash. Boone would struggle throughout the rest of the regular season, hitting only .254/.302/.418 down the stretch though he went 8 for 8 in stolen base attempts.

Boone would struggle through the first two rounds of the playoffs and would hit the pine for the beginning of Game 7 of the ALCS in favor of Enrique Wilson (partly because Wilson was believed to hit Pedro Martinez very well). After Ruben Sierra pinch hit for Wilson in the 8th and was walked, Boone went in to pinch run for Sierra and play 3rd. The next 8 Yankee batters were retired in order leaving Aaron Boone as the lead-off man in the bottom of the 11th against Tim Wakefield. And on the first pitch he saw, Boone lifted one into the October night.

Boone would suffer an injury playing pickup basketball in the off-season and the Yankees took that opportunity to void his contract. According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, the Yankees had actually resigned Boone to a 1-year, $5.75 M deal in December of 2003 but released him in February, paying him less than $1 M of his salary. To replace Boone, the Yankees traded for Alex Rodriguez as Boone sat out the entire 2004 season. Boone would bounce around the majors after that, playing with Cleveland, Florida, Washington and Houston. His 2007 season was a comeback season for Boone as a Marlin, but he regressed again in 2008 with Washington. Boone's defense, according to FanGraphs, was quite poor, especially at third where he had a -15.7 UZR in 7,957.2 innings at the hot corner. Also according to FanGraphs, Boone posted WARs of 2.8 in 2002 and 2.7 in 2003 but his high point after that was 0.4 in 2005. Boone underwent open heart surgery last season only to come back and somehow play for the Houston Astros, earning him great admiration in my book.

According to Baseball-Reference, Aaron Boone's most comparable player is Scott Brosius (and, to be honest, their stats are remarkably similar) and in the hearts and minds of Yankees fans, both third basemen hold the distinction of hitting clutch playoff home runs for the Bronx Bombers. For New York Yankees fans, the 2003 ALCS is even sweeter looking back at what happened a year later and Boone will always be remembered for what he did. And for Red Sox fans, he will be forever known as Aaron f*#@ing Boone. Enjoy your retirement, Aaron--you are always welcome in Yankee Stadium.

Welcome Back, Aaron Boone

When rosters expand on September 1st, it's usually a time to bring up three groups of people: useful minor leaguers to help for the last month, veteran's toiling in the minor leagues, and young players to give a look for the future. They're all mostly unfamiliar names.

But one guy who was called up on September 1st has a name that most will recognize: Aaron f*#@ing Boone.

He was the hero of the 2003 playoffs, hitting a long home run into the October night to keep The Curse alive for one more year. His impact on the Yankees is still felt because if he would have never blown out his knee in a pickup basketball game after 2003 season, A-Rod may have never been a Yankee. After his stint with the Yankees, Boone has become a journeyman, moving around from team to team.

Yet nothing compares to the journey he completed to make it back this season. Boone had open-heart surgery in March and made it back to the field less than 6 months later. So far he's 0-5 with a HBP.

As someone who had open-heart surgery himself, I am appreciative of the determination it takes to make to back from that surgery, especially to be on the level to actually play Major League Baseball.

Aaron Boone was always going to be in my heart for hitting that home run deep into an October night, but he'll now be in my thoughts as well as I wish him the best coming back from a surgery we both had.