For an organization that long made a tradition of winning championships, the Yankees have become accustomed to another rite of passage at this time of the year: a quiet clubhouse following a playoff ouster that leaves them picking up the pieces and trying to figure out how they can get over the hump the following October.
The Yankees keep giving themselves chances to change the script, but for 17 straight years now, they have not been able to do it, the latest failure coming Wednesday night, when they were swept out of the ALDS by the AL East champion Rays, who again got to celebrate at Yankee Stadium.
And so Thursday — and really, it started even before Trent Grisham flailed at a pitch out of the zone for the 27th out Wednesday — came another tradition: the referendum on Aaron Boone’s future as manager of the Yankees.
Boone has one more year left on his contract, which would bring him to 10 — the same time Joe Girardi got, though Girardi’s tenure included the club’s last World Series title in 2009. Boone, the 53-year-old baseball lifer, said late Wednesday night that he expects to be back next year, “but those conversations and things are for another day.”
