Is Aaron Boone awake? Or did the Yankees manager decide to pack it in for the day after watching Giancarlo Stanton’s mammoth home run in Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday night?
That’s going to be a serious question asked all winter long across baseball if the Dodgers clinch the championship after the disastrous fifth inning at Yankee Stadium.
With New York up 5-0 and Gerrit Cole absolutely cruising on the mound, the Yankees unraveled. First slowly, then all at once as the Dodgers put up five unearned runs in one frame thanks to three mistakes most little leaguers would be able to avoid.
First it was Aaron Judge dropping a shallow fly off the bat of Tommy Edman.
This was Aaron Judge’s first and only error all year (regular and postseason). pic.twitter.com/TDoebaCt7U
— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) October 31, 2024
Then Anthony Volpe spiked a throw to third base for the force out two batters later.
Volpe makes an error now and the bases are loaded with no outs pic.twitter.com/80N92mBUua
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 31, 2024
But it seemed like the Yankees were about to escape after more masterful pitching from Cole induced a weak grounder from Mookie Betts to first baseman Anthony Rizzo. With Rizzo playing back, Cole was expected to cover the bag and secure the put-out. For reasons passing understanding, the Yankees’ ace stopped running after a few steps and watched helplessly as Betts not only reached safely, but brought in Edman from third.
The @Dodgers get on the board in Game 5. #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/Mif4HgFsoO
— MLB (@MLB) October 31, 2024
The play was scored a hit for Betts, but there’s no escaping Cole’s mistake.
You can absolutely guess what happened next. The Dodgers smelled blood and pounced. Back-to-back doubles from Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez knotted things up at 5 before the Yankees were able to get off the field.
You may also have noticed that at no point during these mental mistakes from New York did manager Aaron Boone leave the dugout to settle down his team.
It was wild to watch play out in real time. Baseball fans were stunned Boone didn’t go out and buy some time for his players to catch their breath and break the tension.
Does Aaron Boone think he’s watching this game from home?
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) October 31, 2024
*45 minutes into the worst sports meltdown in history*
Aaron Boone: Ok finally time for a mound visit
— Patrick Daugherty (@RotoPat) October 31, 2024
Aaron Boone’s seat just became hotter than Pepper X
How does nobody take a mound visit at any point during this fiasco? pic.twitter.com/XKavwm3ghG
— Calico Joe (@CalicoJoeMLB) October 31, 2024
Aaron Boone watching his entire team collapse and making zero moves pic.twitter.com/DU7hZQ6G9q
— Kate | Fightful | Mark Order (@MissKatefabe) October 27, 2024
Aaron Boone watching gerrit cole last inning and not going to talk to him pic.twitter.com/KIRD4tsmA8
— Christopher Moore (@chris_amoore) October 31, 2024
