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The New York Yankees announced on Monday they have hired Aaron Boone as their new manager after Joe Girardi and the team parted ways in October following a trip to the American League Championship Series.

It's a three-year contract that runs through the 2020 season with a team option for 2021.

On Dec. 1, the New York Daily News' Bill Madden first relayed word of the Bronx Bombers' decision to hire the former ESPN analyst and Yankee third baseman, who became a pinstriped folk hero when he hit an 11th-inning, walk-off home run in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS against the Boston Red Sox.

Boone was one of six people who interviewed for the job along with former Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran, former bench coach Rob Thomson—who is now the new bench coach for the Philadelphia Phillies, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki—San Francisco Giants bench coach Hensley Meulens, former Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners manager Eric Wedge and Los Angeles Dodgers third base coach Chris Woodward.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported Meulens was the other finalist for the job.

"I would say in a way I've been preparing for this job for the last 44 years," Boone said after interviewing for the job in mid-November, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com).

Boone added that while he doesn't have any previous experience as a manager, his status as a baseball lifer and son of former MLB catcher and manager Bob Boone helped prepare him for the gig.

"I've been going to the ballpark since I was 3 and 4 years old, and in a way managing the game from a very young age. And then growing up where my dad was in the big leagues from the time I was born to the time I was in a senior in high school and being around great teams, great players, I've kind of lived this game as a kid," he said.

Boone will now get the opportunity to pick up where Girardi left off and lead one of MLB's most talented clubs back into World Series contention.

With reigning AL home run king Aaron Judge, power-hitting catcher Gary Sanchez, ace Luis Severino, a top-notch bullpen and ascendant young infielder Gleyber Torres all at his disposal, Boone should have the resources necessary to morph the Yankees into a perennial powerhouse once he gets acclimated to life on the bench.