New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone appears to have a long memory, and he is using it to motivate his team ahead of the American League Division Series against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Boone brought up some criticism directed at the Yankees by Blue Jays television analyst Buck Martinez in early September. Martinez outright referred to the Yankees as a poor team, citing their frequent fundamental mistakes (video here).
“Contrary to some thoughts up here, we’re a really good team,” Boone said. “I know Buck had some thoughts. That’s all I was responding to. He’s wrong.”
“Contrary to some thoughts up here, we’re a really good team… I know Buck had some thoughts. That’s all I was responding to. He’s wrong.” pic.twitter.com/W3EMmAAjuv https://t.co/wDd8J44I9J
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 3, 2025
Martinez made his comments nearly a month ago, so Boone has had this one filed away for a while. The Blue Jays did beat the Yankees to the AL East title, but only on a tiebreaker.
The Yankees will now get their chance to make a firm statement against the Blue Jays in the ALDS. They advanced after beating the Boston Red Sox in three games during the AL Wild Card series, meaning their playoff run will start against their two biggest division rivals.
The Blue Jays are not the biggest fans of the Yankees, either, so this series already has some extra emotion riding on it.
