David Lennon: Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Reds manager Terry Francona are forever linked

If not for Aaron Boone, there is no Terry Francona. Not the Cooperstown-bound manager, anyway. The guy who ended “The Curse of the Bambino” by piloting the 2004 Red Sox to the franchise’s first World Series title since 1918, six years after the Titanic sank.

It was Boone’s 11th-inning home run off knuckleballer Tim Wakefield that capsized Boston in Game 7 of the ALCS the previous October, sending the Yankees to the Fall Classic and Red Sox manager Grady Little to the unemployment line. Two months later, Francona was introduced as Little’s successor at Fenway Park, and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

Francona, now 67 and in his second season as Reds manager, didn’t want to get too nostalgic before Friday night’s series opener in the Bronx. He’s as old-school as it gets — the son of a major-leaguer, the original Tito — and that means focusing on the team he currently wears across his chest.

But as far as the Yankees go, Francona left them with one of the deepest scars ever inflicted on the proud franchise by spurring the Red Sox to that miracle comeback from a three-games-to-none deficit in the 2004 ALCS. Three years later, after the Yankees were eliminated by Cleveland in the Division Series, Francona got Boston a second title with a sweep of the Rockies, who had won 14 of their final 15 regular-season games (including No. 163 to get into the playoffs) and had been undefeated in October (7-0). Francona is 11-4 in World Series games.

Francona managed the Red Sox for eight seasons and followed with another 11 in Cleveland, where he made one World Series appearance in 2016 and lost to the Cubs, who hadn’t won the title since 1908 (Cleveland still hasn’t won since 1948).

In those 19 years, Francona finished 104-111 (.484) against the Yankees in the regular season. He went 9-15 in the playoffs.

When I asked Francona about being back in New York — albeit a different Bronx stadium, across the street from where his memories were made — he shrugged off any special significance. Important, sure. History-making? Of course. But he manages a National League team now, and Francona wants to look forward.

“I mean, I like coming here because I like seeing Lou [Cucuzza],” Francona said of the longtime visiting clubhouse honcho. “But I don’t get too caught up in that.’’

He paused for a moment. “That was a long time ago. The one thing is, when you play a game here, it feels like it means something, you know? I like that. It’s pretty cool.”

After beating the Yankees, 10-2, on Saturday, Francona is 11th in MLB history with 2,069 wins, right behind Yankees legend Joe McCarthy (2,125). The next-closest active manager? That would be the Tigers’ AJ Hinch, at No. 71 with 995, followed by the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts — whose stolen base famously resurrected the 2004 Sox — on his heels with 992 entering Saturday night.

Boone, now in his ninth season with the Yankees, is No. 97 on the list with 742 wins. Both he and Francona were raised in baseball families — Boone’s grandfather Ray was traded for Francona’s dad in 1958 — and that similar DNA shows up in how they view each other across the diamond.

“He’s going to the Hall of Fame,” Boone said Friday. “I feel like I know him pretty well, but I think a lot of people feel that way about Tito, just because he’s got such an awesome way about him and a warmth to him and a self-deprecating sense of humor. Obviously, he’s one of the great leaders in our sport and I always get a kick out of seeing him.”

When I asked Francona what he’s seen from Boone during their almost nine years of butting heads, he couldn’t resist.

“Really good players,” Francona said, smiling. “No . . . everybody likes Boonie. He’s baseball. That family, it’s like royalty in baseball. I’ve always enjoyed him.”

Boone, 53, is considerably younger than Francona, but there is a kinship between the two.

“I hope with guys like that, there’s a respect for the game because you grew up in it,” Francona said. “And you definitely see that with Boonie.”

Along with trading a few barbs, Boone has some catching up to do on that victory list and trails Francona 2-0 in World Series titles. But when Boone talked about Friday’s HOPE Week assignment and how he was sore from shadow boxing at a Bronx gym, he got in a jab at the end of his media briefing.

“It took my breath away, literally, because we were getting after it in there,” Boone said. “I don’t think Tito could’ve handled it.”

More CBA chatter

With baseball’s collective bargaining agreement set to expire on Dec. 1 — the owners and the players’ union already are well into the opening rounds of negotiations — commissioner Rob Manfred voiced concern a few weeks ago that the owners’ salary cap proposal could lead to a work stoppage, with an extended lockout to follow.

As you might expect, the two sides have shown almost zero agreement on anything, and that now includes this past week’s proposal from MLB regarding domestic amateur players and an international draft.

Among the sweeping changes, according to sources, would be raising the minimum domestic draft age to 20 by Sept. 1 of that same year and at least two years removed from high school graduation (sophomores in college). That’s one year earlier than the current system, but with the caveats of the draft shrinking to 12 hard-slot rounds (from the existing 20) and signing bonus pools of $200 million each for the domestic and international drafts (it’s currently just over $350 million for domestic).

Another big addition: the ability for teams to trade draft picks, just as they do in the NFL, NBA and NHL, but with more limitations. Selections can be traded only after the previous draft is completed, so they could be traded only for the next year, not multiple seasons into the future. Teams also couldn’t trade away first-round picks in consecutive drafts or acquire more than three additional picks (other than their own) in the first three rounds.

From MLB’s perspective, the motivation is simple: They want more mature players that have the benefit of college development, similar to how the other leagues treat the NCAA as a farm system. And because of the recent increase in scholarships, along with college players now being paid through NIL programs, delaying their draft eligibility can be a more lucrative alternative than in past years. Plus, according to league statistics, 75% of high school draftees don’t make the majors.

On the international side, according to sources, MLB intends to raise the signing age to 18 by Sept. 1 of that same year — one year older than the current system — which works in tandem with the new draft to prevent unscrupulous recruiting practices. There also would be a medical and scouting combine for the top 300 international prospects each year, same as the existing program for domestic prospects, as well as tighter monitoring of international development programs.

The corruption and abuse within the current system is well-documented, but MLB’s longtime push for an international draft repeatedly has been shot down in past CBA negotiations. The union views any draft as an artificial drag on the free-market system — which it is, by definition — and also a cap on a prospect’s earning potential.

Obviously, the owners prefer more fixed labor costs across the board, but there has to be some middle ground that helps regulate the Wild West the international system has become. Even the union would acknowledge that some clean-up is necessary, but much like the ongoing salary-cap debate, neither side is showing much flexibility in these early rounds.

On Thursday, the Players Association said MLB’s draft proposals would eliminate more than a billion dollars in player compensation over the next five years, with a $400 million reduction from 2026 to 2027 alone. Also, raising the ages would cause a talent drain and “destroy” fundamental player rights.

“MLB made another set of proposals that are flat-out bad for baseball,” the Players Association said in a statement. “Ones that would cripple the next generation of players and damage the future of our game.”

Good thing Opening Day 2027 still is nine months away.