95TH MLB ALL-STAR GAME

July 15, 2025

Aaron Boone

Truist Park

American League

Press Conference

NL - 7, AL - 6 (swing-off 4-3)

Q. Hey, Boony, what did you make of that?

AARON BOONE: Pretty exciting. I mean, you pick your guys yesterday and you kind of run it by them and you don't really think it's in play. All of a sudden, here we go and you're running through the rules with them. It's just the three swings. So first time of it, a lot of pressure. Rook got us off to a great start, but I thought it was pretty exciting.

Q. So what happened? Did Judgy leave? Who was still around?

AARON BOONE: Oh, yeah. Yesterday, when I went through and we had to pick our guys yesterday, I wanted to pick guys that I knew would be in the game still and still hot. So, yeah, that was my choice.

Q. What did you think of Schwarber going up there and going 3 for 3?

AARON BOONE: I mean, yeah, that Schwarbs. I'm not shocked, especially after he clipped the first one. Same with Rook. Like, man, you get that first one under your belt, and, yeah, he put three great swings on. It's a line drive out the front door to get things started. I saw him nodding his head like, I've got the speed on a couple of the takes, and he did Schwarber-type things.

Q. So years from now, what will you make of this game, Aaron? That you're part of history? Obviously, very different.

AARON BOONE: Yeah. It will be interesting to see where that goes. There's probably a world where you could see that in the future, where maybe it's in some regular season mix. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if people start talking about it like that.

Obviously, I don't think that should happen, necessarily, or would at any time in the near future. But I got to say, you know, it was pretty exciting. Like all of a sudden, here we go. And the camaraderie that you kind of build these last couple days with the team, I think went into overdrive there. Like guys were -- I mean, our side, to see how excited they were out there and, like, it's like wiffle ball in the back yard. Here we go. Let's do it.

Q. By knowing this rule and knowing the (indiscernible) come about to switch the players?

AARON BOONE: We weren't going to switch. We picked our players yesterday. And then we just -- then it was just a matter of picking the order.

Q. One at-bat or one inning, you can switch the players? You feel comfortable to do that because you're not going to go extra, many, many innings.

AARON BOONE: Oh, you mean making the wholesale changes?

Q. Yes.

AARON BOONE: Yeah, yeah. You kind of have a plan going in. You know the starters will play half the game. You've got a couple guys kind of nursing through some things so you're trying to protect a couple guys, too, and keep it shorter for them. So you plan that going in a little bit.

Q. Was it your idea to have Joe make that pitching change?

AARON BOONE: Yeah. I got him to do it in Spring Training in '24. Took me a few days. I got him to do it and then he was gung-ho about it this year. Yeah, I said we're probably going to start with Smith here, get an out, and make a change. You ready? And he was all in. I think he ate it up this week.

Q. Aaron, for fans tonight who didn't get to see Max pitch, could you kind of comment on the first half and what he's meant to your organization?

AARON BOONE: He's been awesome. He was certainly a strong case to start this game. That's how good he's been. When you consider what Tarik's been and Crochet and Hunter Brown and beyond, you know, Max has been right there in the mix. He's been dominant. He's done a great job. If we've had a losing streak, he's the guy we wanted to have the ball.

He's certainly elevated our club and pitched like an absolute ace.

THE MODERATOR: Aaron, appreciate it.