Savagery is in style.
Following Thursday’s instantly epic, profanity-filled, ejection-fueled rant, Aaron Boone’s popularity in The Bronx elevated to its highest point since his legendary Game 7 walk-off homer in the 2003 ALCS. Before the Yankees manager arrived back home, his words had been emblazoned on a variety of T-shirts across the internet.
By late Friday afternoon, Boone’s “savages” were like countless fans, eager to sport the already-beloved nickname after Luke Voit arranged for the delivery of dozens of shirts to Yankee Stadium.
“We’re gonna rock it for a while,” the first baseman said.
When Thursday’s doubleheader ended, Voit returned to the clubhouse to see a text message from someone he knows at Barstool Sports, informing him that shirts featuring the new nickname had already been printed.
“Bring ’em in,” Voit said.
Austin Romine smiled when he heard the “savage” shirts were en route.
“I want one,” Romine said. “The whole team is gonna wear it.”
While players loved Boone’s outburst, it was no surprise. For others, the hot mic provided a rare glimpse of the intensity often shielded by the manager’s affability.
But what was it about Boone’s description of the incredibly potent lineup that found the fanbase enthusiastically endorsing it?
“Why does stuff go viral sometimes? We don’t know. It hits home. His presentation had something to do with it,” Romine said. “I think it’s his passion. He has a lot of passion. It was really [authentic]. He believes it. We believe it. And I think that’s awesome.
“It was a different approach to getting after an umpire. I didn’t hear the audio until I got home, but in the moment, he’s got his players back, it fired us up a bit. It was a good one. And then when you see what he said, it makes me laugh.”
It made every player proud.
“I think he uses that term to give us confidence,” DJ LeMahieu said. “We obviously have a good lineup, but when your manager has your back like that, it goes a long ways. … Watching it on video, I don’t think you could’ve really written it any better. I thought it was one of the coolest things.”
The praise was near universal. The greatest critic may have been the responsible party.
“Some of the foul language, I’m not real proud of, but it’s over and done with now,” said Boone, who served a one-game suspension Friday night when the Yankees opened a three-game series against the Rockies. “I’m trying to live my life a certain way, that hopefully people for the most part can look up to and respect. Had some choice of words that weren’t so great, especially in a public setting, where kids are gonna get a hold of that, so not necessarily proud of that stuff, but also we’re playing for a lot and I’m gonna be myself night in and night out, and I’m always gonna defend our guys.”
His guys, henceforth known as savages.
“It’ll be more vocal now since it’s gone viral,” Voit said of teammates using the label. “It’s definitely something we can use if we have a little bit of a lull, or we need something to pump us up. I think it’s a perfect word to describe this team. We’re just a bunch of grinders and we’re gonna get the job done. It doesn’t matter how we do it or when we do it, whatever it’s gonna take.”