Yankees to hold moment of silence for Brett Gardner’s son Miller on Opening Day: ‘It’s been devastating’
On a day that is annually filled with hope and excitement, Aaron Boone was also feeling a heavy heart Thursday on Opening Day in The Bronx.
Just days after the death of Miller Gardner, the 14-year-old son of former Yankees de facto captain Brett Gardner, the club was set to hold a moment of silence for him before facing the Brewers.
“It’s been devastating,” Boone said while getting choked up on Thursday morning at Yankee Stadium. “As much as the excitement of today, there’s no question we’ll be playing with heavy hearts today, and throughout the year and playing with Miller in mind.”
Miller Gardner died last Friday during a family vacation to Costa Rica, with Brett and his wife Jessica Gardner saying in a statement Sunday they had “so many questions and so few answers.”
When the Yankees returned home on Tuesday night after spring training, Boone saw his teenage daughter Bella, who had a relationship with Gardner’s two sons.
“To see how it impacts your kids, I think we can all imagine how difficult that is right now for the Gardner family,” Boone said. “So it’ll be with heavy hearts that we take the field today, and really all year.
“I talk to our guys a lot about perspective. While this matters so much to us, it’s our livelihood, we pour so much into this, so many people care about it, it’s baseball. I really think it’s important we reflect on that every now and then when we get consumed with this. Whether we’re flying high, whether we’re going through some tough moments, like, man, there’s a lot more important things going on and meaningful things. It’s important to keep that perspective.”
Gardner last played for the Yankees in 2021, with Boone managing the final four seasons of his career. The outfielder was the heart of many of those teams.
“We’ll take the field with heavy hearts today with Miller on our minds and certainly the Gardner family on our minds,” Boone said. “As best we can, try to support them from afar.”
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