Yankees’ Aaron Boone Q&A: Grilled on Brett Gardner collision | Was protocol followed?

Brett Gardner convinced the Yankees that he wasn’t hurt banging his head and shoulder into the left-field wall while making a great catch against the Phillies on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 (6/27/18) at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pa., but manager Aaron Boone was interrogated about how the club responded during his post-game interview.

PHILADELPHIA — The terrific catch that Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner made jumping and crashing shoulder/head first into the Citizens Bank Park left-field wall Wednesday night was brought up early into manager Aaron Boone’s post-game news conference.

Initially, there was just talk about how good of a defensive play it was in the third inning of the Yankees’ 3-0 loss to the Phillies.

Thinking Phillies first baseman Carlos Santana’s leadoff blast off Yankees starter Luis Cessa would reach the seats, Boone said, “I kind of dropped my head … Then the next thing I know, Gardy is jumping up on the fence. So great play by him.”

The subject then changed to other things … for a short while.

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Then about halfway through a presser that lasted almost nine minutes, a Yankees beat writer initiated a back-and-forth about how the club reacted to Gardner banging his head off the wall.

Clint Frazier’s name didn’t come up, but Gardner’s catch did somewhat resemble the now Triple-A outfielder crashing into the left-field wall more violently during a Yankees’ Grapefruit League game in Bradenton, Fla., last Feb. 24.

Frazier, who is one the best young players in a loaded Yankees farm system, didn’t play another game until April due to a concussion that lingered.

And that’s surely what led to Boone being interrogated even though Gardner played all nine innings Wednesday night.

Billy Witz of the New York Times began the exchange by asking Boone, “When Gardner ran into the wall there, how come nobody came to check on him to make sure for the concussion protocol?”

“I think we just felt comfortable with seeing the replay and seeing his reaction that he was OK,” Boone responded.

Witz’s reply was, “But (Gardner) was shaking his head like clearing cobwebs. That wasn’t enough of an indicator to check on him?”

“I think we felt good about where he was … his mental state,” Boone said.

Continuing, Witz asked, “How can you assess that from the dugout?”

Boone answered, “Well, by kind of a non-verbal communication with him and knowing the person a little bit.”

The topic then changed to this weekend’s Yankees-Red Sox at Yankee Stadium and other things, but Gardner’s collision was brought up again before Boone’s interview ended.

Witz: “When (head athletic trainer) Steve (Donahue) looked at Gardner. … That’s who it was, right?”

Boone” No, Steve’s not here.”

Witz: “What was the conclusion? I don’t know if you were part of that.”

Boone: “Just that he was fine.”

Later, Gardner himself echoed the same during his post-game pow-wow at his locker.

After Gardner provided a play-by-play on his catch – “I think I was expecting it to go a little further and a little more in the gap, so I kind of had to run sideways once I got on the warning track” – he was asked if he was shaken up from the collision.

“No, not really,” Gardner said. “Any time you run into something like that, it kind of stuns you for a second. But once I got up, I realized where I was. I recognized (center fielder Aaron) Hicks right there, so I felt like I was pretty good.”

Gardner then was asked if he hit his head or shoulder on the wall.

“Maybe a little bit of everything, but I feel good,” he said. “I didn’t get banged up from it or anything. I felt fortunate everything kind of hit at the same time, to be honest. So that’s kind of a good thing.”

Gardner reaffirmed to the Yankees after the inning that he wasn’t injured. 

“Yeah, (assistant athletic trainer) Mike (Schuk) was right there at the bottom of the (dugout) steps waiting for me to come in to make sure I was all right. I was fine.”

Witz then asked, “How does that go? Is it, ‘Do you feel, OK?’ Do they give you tests?”

“They asked if I was good and I said, ‘Yeah,’ and they left me alone,” Gardner said.

And that was that.

Gardner will have Thursday’s off day to get over any next-day soreness that may set in before the Yankees take on the Red Sox this weekend at Yankee Stadium … not that he was expecting any health issues.

“I’ll feel good tomorrow,” Gardner predicted.

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.