For years, Yankees fans have begged Aaron Boone to abandon the book in crucial postseason series and attempt to recapture his long-lost gut and follow it. On Tuesday night, ahead of Game 1 of the Wild Card round, he followed the math and got his powerful lefties Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm Jr. out of the lineup ahead of a battle with Garrett Crochet, who allows an OBP of .193 to left-handed batters. It's an uncomfortable choice, face-to-face with the worst draw possible, but Boone had the conviction to make it.
He didn't have the conviction to stick with it, though.