Red Sox icon voices support for Yankees' Aaron Boone

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone received a somewhat surprising vote of confidence from retired Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Curt Schilling. 

"You know what I’ll say, and you heard it here first, and I don’t want to be first, but Aaron Boone is gonna get fired, and that’s gonna suck because none of this is his fault and every player in Yankee pinstripes, I promise you, they care very deeply about this guy," Schilling said during the latest edition of his Outkick podcast, per Bridget Hyland of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "He’s that kind of guy that warrants that kind of emotion. Every one of them should feel like crap because it’s their fault. He’s gonna get fired. Period."

Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner revealed this past spring he could consider making a change at manager if he felt the players no longer wanted to play and win for Boone. That was months before it was reported on the morning of Aug. 9 that Boone could spend the rest of this season managing for his job. 

At the time that story went public, the Yankees were four-and-a-half games back in the battle for a wild-card postseason berth. 60-64 New York entered Tuesday in the middle of an eight-game losing streak and was nine-and-a-half games back in the wild-card race. 

The Yankees thus far have never missed the playoffs since Boone took over as skipper following the 2017 season. Schilling suggested the end of that streak shouldn't immediately cost the 50-year-old his job. 

"And I’m telling you Yankee fans, you’re gonna regret this because he’s gonna go somewhere else and win a whole lot of games," Schilling added about the Bronx Bombers potentially parting ways with Boone this fall. "This guy’s as good as they come as a human being." 

Boone signed a three-year contract that includes a club option for 2025 with the Yankees in October 2021.