Aaron Boone and his Yankees are heading north of the border for the AL Division Series after taking care of the Red Sox. Now, they have another rival in front of them in the AL East champion Blue Jays.
Toronto and New York finished the regular season with the same record (94-68), but the Blue Jays took the division and a bye to the ALDS thanks to owning the tiebreaker over the Yankees. During the division race, Blue Jays broadcaster and former big leaguer Buck Martinez didn't hold back his true thoughts on the Yankees.
"Ya know, the Yankees, they're not a good team," Martinez said on a broadcast Sept. 9. "I don't care what their record is. They have a lot of wild pitches, they make a lot of mistakes in the field, they don't run the bases very well. If they don't hit home runs, they don't have a chance to win."
"The Yankees, they're not a good team. I don't care what their record is. They have a lot of wild pitches. They make a lot of mistakes in the field. They don't run the bases very well." - Blue Jays commentator Buck Martinez calls down the thunder 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hlnIpP0ygr
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 10, 2025
Boone certainly recalled those choice words and is using them as motivation ahead of Game 1 against the Blue Jays Saturday.
"I feel like the last couple months, we started to play really well. Contrary to some thoughts up here, we're a really good team," he said to reporters Friday via SNY.
After a follow-up question, the Yankees manager addressed Martinez's shade directly. "I know Buck had some thoughts, that's all I was responding to. He's wrong," he continued.
The Yankees won a decisive Game 3 against Boston Thursday at Yankee Stadium to keep their season alive. And ironically, they didn't hit a home run in the big 4-0 win. Now, Boone's squad has an opportunity to prove Martinez wrong with a trip to the ALCS on the line.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Aaron Boone Shades Blue Jays Broadcaster for Prior Yankees Comments Ahead of ALDS.
