By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

NEW YORK - Aaron Boone's voice-message box was filled with family and friends congratulating him on his historic home run in the American League Championship Series. But give former Reds teammate Sean Casey credit for calling before Boone's home run beat the Boston Red Sox 6-5 in 11 innings in Game 7 Thursday night.

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"The first message I got from Case was when I was walking to the plate," Boone said. "He's coaching me. 'Stay inside. Stay back.' "

After Boone deposited the first pitch he saw from Tim Wakefield into the left-field seats, Casey called back.

"I was running the bases," Boone said. "He calls. He's screaming. He's swearing. He's going crazy."

Boone also heard from Reds Adam Dunn, Austin Kearns and Barry Larkin; former Red Pete Harnisch; Reds media relations man Rob Butcher; and former general manager Jim Bowden.

The home run, of course, put the Yankees in the World Series against the Florida Marlins. They opened the series Saturday night.

Gabe White, a former Red now also a Yankee, gave the old Reds "magic" some credit for getting New York to the Series.

"When we won in Cincinnati, we won in the last at-bat," White said. "We took it with us."

Boone, White and Felix Heredia went from the Reds to the Yankees in the midseason payroll purge.

The moment the ball left Boone's bat Thursday, his life changed. It was one of the biggest moments in the history of sports' most storied franchise.

Boone, a third-generation big-leaguer and a student of the game, knows the significance of his home run. It was only the fifth home run to win a postseason series and only the second in a Game 7. Pittsburgh's Bill Mazeroski was the other to do it. His beat the Yankees 10-9 in the 1960 World Series.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't know what it means," Boone said. "It's still hard to put it into words. I'm really blessed to have had the opportunity."

Yankees manager Joe Torre made sure Boone savored it a bit. Torre called Boone early Friday morning, after Boone was up late celebrating the ALCS win.

"He said, 'Wake up,' " Boone said. " 'I've got to be up, you might as well be up too.' "

Torre was going to a Yankees rally at City Hall. Torre wanted Boone, one of the newest Yankees, to soak up a bit of the Big Apple love for the Yankees.

The home run relieved some of the pressure on Boone. He started slowly with the Yankees, but he ended up hitting .254 with six home runs and 31 RBI in 54 games. That punches up to 19 home runs and 96 RBI over a full season.

"I keep reading about how bad I was," Boone said. "I didn't think I was that bad. I just had a rough series."

Boone was 2-for-16 in the ALCS before the home run. That had him pressing a bit.

"Boonie, every at-bat, tried to make up for things that didn't happen," Torre said. "It was a big home run. It will help him."

White thinks it will help the Yankees.

"It's got all these guys jacked up," White said.

Boone is trying to dial it down a notch.

"It's a great moment, but it's over," he said. "... I'm pretty good at turning the page."