Aaron Hicks didn’t really know — and didn’t even think about — what his Yankee Stadium greeting would be.
Despite all the boos from his eight years in The Bronx, especially near the end of a tenure that concluded when he was designated for assignment, Hicks thought that, maybe, he’d be treated just like any other visiting opponent.
“They’re normally pretty tough on visiting players,” Hicks said Monday about Yankees fans. “I’m not really worried about that too much. I’m just here to pretty much go about my day and try to do everything possible to help my team win.”
But when the game started, and Hicks took his spot in left field — the same left field spot that featured one of his lowest Yankees moments, when he didn’t know a dropped ball was fair and allowed two runs to score in September 2022 — and stepped into the batter’s box, it turned out that not much had changed.
He was booed during pregame introductions, booed again during his first at-bat which ended with a popout, and booed again during a tribute video in the second inning.
Hicks’ career has been revitalized since signing with the Orioles less than two weeks after his Yankees release.
His average had dipped to .188 by May 20.
He has hit .263 with a .854 OPS in 26 games, plugging an open outfield spot when Cedric Mullins was injured and then playing so well that manager Brandon Hyde couldn’t eliminate him from the lineup.
“I just think that opportunities and injuries and stuff like that kinda happened, and I kinda went down a struggling road in which I really couldn’t get myself out of it,” Hicks said. “I feel like when I started to have kinda success, I wasn’t really given an opportunity, and now that I’m over here, I’m getting a lot of opportunities and I’ve been trying to make the most of it.”
The first part of Hicks’ return went smoothly before the booing began, though.
He chatted with catcher Jose Trevino and outfielder Willie Calhoun, among other former teammates, during batting practice, donning orange socks, cleats, batting gloves and a new beard.
Hicks also said that he texted Aaron Judge after he crashed into the wall and injured his toe.
Hicks, as he said last week, reiterated that he didn’t have anything to prove to the Yankees.
He didn’t ask for a release, but he has embraced the change of scenery.
He just wanted to help the Orioles, who are such a young team, that it has meant answering any — and all — questions they ask the 33-year-old.
Even Hyde didn’t know what to expect with Hicks.
He’d only seen the outfielder from his perch in the opposite dugout, but added that he has a lot of respect for veteran players.
Hyde doesn’t take their presence for granted, and he wanted to make sure that the communication between the pair was open — leading to plenty of conversations in the manager’s office.
“Everybody has a different story,” Hyde said, and for Hicks, the latest chapter with the Orioles now includes the inevitable Yankee Stadium return.
“We don’t have a ton of older veteran presence in our lineup, so I was hoping that he could come here and just kinda play easy and play like he has nothing to lose,” Hyde said.
“And he did that.”
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