Aaron Hicks’s return to the New York Yankees did not quite go as he had hoped after receiving boos from his former fans.
A little over a month after leaving the Bronx to sign for the Baltimore Orioles, the 33-year-old was back at Yankee Stadium as his new team battled the 27-time World Series champions. Not only did they lose the game 6-3, but the MLB star received a negative reaction from those he once represented for several years.
He was booed during pregame introductions, booed again during his first at-bat and jeered once again during a tribute video in the second inning, and booed in each of his three other at-bats.
Post-game, Hicks claimed he expected nothing less than what the New Yorkers threw at him. “I mean, it’s kinda just what I expected,” Hicks told The New York Post. “I grinded eight years with the team.
“Had some great moments over there. And kinda how things were going this year and come back and kinda get booed again, kinda just what I expected.” He added: “They’re normally pretty tough on visiting players, I’m not really worried about that too much. I’m just here to pretty much go about my day and try to do everything possible to help my team win.”
Hick’s lack of production at the plate in the last few seasons of his eight-year stint with the Yankees ultimately led to the fans growing frustrated and they let him know about it. Hicks was designated for assignment by the Yankees but the franchise opted to release him and in May, he signed for the Orioles following an injury to their center fielder Cedric Mullins.
The veteran has made a promising start to life in Baltimore and has hit .262 with a .838 OPS in 27 games. Though brought in to fill the spot of an injured player, his impressive performances have given manager Brandon Hyde something to think about, as he has not been removed from the lineup as yet.
Commenting on his current run with the Orioles, Hicks said: “I just think that opportunities and injuries and stuff like that kinda happened, and I kinda went down a struggling road in which I really couldn’t get myself out of it.
“I feel like when I started to have kinda success, I wasn’t really given an opportunity, and now that I’m over here, I’m getting a lot of opportunities and I’ve been trying to make the most of it.” Commenting on the player’s arrival, Hyde was pleased the franchise added some valuable experience to the squad.
“We don’t have a ton of older veteran presence in our lineup, so I was hoping that he could home here and just kinda play easy and play like he has nothing to lose, and he did that," he said. Despite losing six of their last 10 games, the Orioles sit second in the AL East behind the Tampa Bay Rays and will be back in action against the Yankees on July 4, the second of a four-match series in New York.
