New York (AFP) – The New York Yankees have selected former star player Aaron Boone to replace Joe Girardi as manager, US media reported Friday.
The New York Daily News, one of several outlets reporting the move, said Yankees officials were attracted to Boone’s “polish”.
Boone, 44, has no managerial or coaching experience since retiring as a player after the 2009 Major League Baseball season. He spent most of his 12-year Major League career with the Cincinnati Reds.
He has been working as a television commentator with ESPN.
But he has ties to the club, having clubbed the walk-off home run in game seven of the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox in 2003.
The Yankees’ search for a new manager has taken more than a month.
Girardi was let go on October 26 after a decade at the helm following the team’s narrow failure to advance to the World Series.
In a conference call with reporters on November 17, after his interview with the Yankees, Boone said he would relish the high-pressure job of managing the storied franchise.
“I know what I would be signing up for,” Boone said. “I think that’s something that many of us relish — the opportunity to have something on the line and a lot at stake is, I think, something that makes you want to go after it.”
