Aaron Boone

“Sometimes it takes time to reach your potential.”

“Hopefully I'm part of creating an environment that a player feels like he can come in and be himself.”

“One of the things I remember when I first got traded to the Yankees was walking into Joe Torre's office. His presence, his kind of soothing nature, his ability to put me at ease at the time in what is a whirlwind experience when you get traded as a player, especially coming to a place like New York.”

“Since I was a little kid, I've always watched people intently and tried to mimic them. It's fair to say that all of that has influenced who I am as a player and as an adult.”

“Some teams, I think it's very clear. Like, 'OK, this is the Opening Day starter. It all slots in kind of well.'”

“I went right from the playing field to the booth, to the studio.”

“I like food.”

“An injury can wipe out a season in a hurry if you're forcing a guy more than they're probably ready for early on in the season.”

“Certainly, it's hard to think that anyone could replace Aaron Judge and, again, hopefully it doesn't come to that. Hopefully we get to the point where he's back in pinstripes for his entire career, like I believe it should be.”

“I always had these romanticized thoughts that I was going to coach high school football one day.”

“I've had a pretty good run, and I wouldn't really change anything. I've definitely had my share of injuries, but I've embraced that and it's part of it.”

“Sometimes with young pitchers, they'll kind of overdo it or overthrow a little bit.”

“When you walk into our clubhouse, hopefully I'm a part of what I believe is a winning culture, but also a culture where guys are at ease, where guys are allowed to be themselves.”

“It's great to have a small place in their history, all that the Yankees mean and everything, that's awesome.”

“Big league players are great at understanding who's for real or not.”

“The timing of the All-Star break usually tends to be a good thing.”

“Look, I think everyone that goes in the playoffs, there's pressure in these games. There's a lot on the line, there's a lot to play for, you want to do well, and you're going up against the best of the best and great opponents.”

“I don't think I'm gonna have a lot of rah-rah stand-up riveting speeches. I don't know if that's really the best way to go about things in Major League Baseball.”

“You have to be able to get yourself off the mat.”

“Hearing you're going to have to go up to Duke University and check your heart out is not the most comforting thing.”