Aaron Boone has never been bad at his job. In fact, he has consistently been a pretty good manager and frontman, a guy who represents his sport in a way that should be copied and pasted into an employee’s manual.

So even if the Yankees had lost this Division Series to Cleveland, a case could’ve been made for them to bring him back for a sixth season. A case could’ve been made for “pretty good” being good enough. Boone’s regular-season winning percentage of .603 is effectively the same as Joe Torre’s (.605), and he stands with Torre and Casey Stengel as the only managers to reach the postseason in each of their first five years with the Yanks.

But that case wouldn’t have been a convincing one, not if the Yankees had gone one-and-done again in the playoffs. Boone had made a potentially lethal strategic mistake at the end of Game 3 by not using Clay Holmes, who reported to work ready to go, and opened a door for Terry Francona’s fearless underdogs to advance to the ALCS via a Game 5 victory in The Bronx.

As it turned out Tuesday, the Guardians failed to charge through that door. Starter Aaron Civale surrendered a three-run homer to Giancarlo Stanton in the first, and reliever Sam Hentges surrendered a sky-high solo shot to Aaron Judge in the second, and that was pretty much that. The Yankees won, 5-1, and headed off to face their old friends in Houston for the right to go to the World Series, while Terry Francona’s heartbroken team flew back to Cleveland wondering what might have been.

Pick one Yankee from the last three decades of excellent teams to pitch a big game, who have you got?

While you are thinking, I will end the debate by offering Orlando Hernandez. It is not just that you could expect brilliance in October. But you could guarantee Hernandez would not blow up. The game was never bigger than him. Hernandez would pitch and the Yankees would — at minimum — have a chance to win when he handed off to the next pitcher.

He had moxie and fortitude. He was unflappable and undeterred by the implications of the game. And can you say anything more complimentary to Nestor Cortes than he just might be the left-handed heir to Hernandez?

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Gleyber Torres wasn't the only one to put the baby to bed. The Yankees' wives got their swings in, as well.

The WAGs came together after the 5-1 win over the Guardians to throw a little smack talk back at Josh Naylor after his Game 4 antics.

Extra points for the actual baby.

Derek Jeter -- no longer with the Marlins -- is on the Yankees' train.

Does it feel like deja vu? It might feel like deja vu.

The Guardians were looking to bleed the clock, the way those old Carolina basketball teams used to. Get a few zeroes against the Yankees. Empty the bullpen. Keep things close in this Game 5 of the AL Division Series. Keep it close enough, late enough, maybe the collective anxiety of a New York crowd of 48,178 might drip into the Yankees’ veins, too.

And then, you never know.

It was a sensible plan.

But then, as Mike Tyson once said: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

Giancarlo Stanton punched the Guardians in the mouth.

It was already clear, three batters into the bottom of the first, that the moment was too big for Cleveland pitcher Aaron Civale. He’d walked Gleyber Torres on four pitches. He’d hit Anthony Rizzo. Civale is a command pitcher who had zero command. This is a dangerous thing at Yankee Stadium in October.

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There's no ill-will from Josh Naylor, who was on the receiving end of Yankees fans' ire after his Game 4 rock-the-baby home run celebration.

The Guardians infielder heard "Who's your daddy?" chants coming from the Yankee Stadium faithful as the Bombers veered toward a 5-1 win.

Naylor, though, was just happy to be there.

"That was so sick," he told reporters. "That was honestly like a dream come true as a kid; playing in an environment like this where they've got diehard fans, it's cool … The fact I got that going through the whole stadium, that was sick."

As for Gleyber Torres returning fire after the game's final out -- rocking a baby of his own while staring into the Cleveland dugout? Naylor didn't mind that either.

"I mean, you do what you’ve got to do," he said. "Better win it all. Do what you’ve got to do."

A baseball broadcast is supposed to be like sitting next to someone you really enjoy watching a game with.

If Bob Costas were seated next to you during the Yankees-Guardians’ series, you might like hearing him offer his nuanced views and tidbits about the game.

Or you might turn to him and say: Will you please quiet down?

That was the Bob Costas Experience on TBS during the ALDS between the Yankees and Guardians. You fully knew Costas was doing the series — at times, it was tedious.

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No American League player has hit more home runs in a season than Aaron Judge.

No player in any league has crushed more homers in win-or-go-home games than the Yankees superstar.

Judge has followed a regular season that was defined by dominance with a postseason in which he has made his hits count, connecting for his second home run of the series in Game 5’s 5-1 victory over the Guardians on Tuesday in The Bronx that sent the Yankees to Houston for the ALCS.

In the second inning, Judge stepped up in a game the Yankees already led 3-0 because of Giancarlo Stanton’s first-inning homer, and Judge aimed for the same spot as his bash brother. Judge rocketed a majestic 394-foot shot to right-center against Cleveland’s Sam Hentges to provide an insurance run in a game in which the Yankees would not be threatened.

The homer was Judge’s fourth in a winner-take-all game, the most in major league history. In games that matter the most, he has been at his best.

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The Yankees’ reward for surviving a gritty, little Guardians team and two elimination games in one of the longest ever division series by days is no easy assignment: a trip to Texas and an ALCS date with hated Houston that begins immediately.

The Yankees’ overwhelming task does present a delicious opportunity to avenge three upsetting past postseason defeats to the Astros the last seven years, including the galling ALCS encounter in 2017 that apparently does still count since the record book to date lists Astros as official World Series champions* that year. Whatever, that point isn’t completely conceded by some Yankees people, who will forever see that asterisk in their hearts.

Among the many teams that loathe Houston, the Yankees likely top that list. While Astros people have suggested they did all their real cheating in the regular season, it does seem somewhat suspicious they won all four games at Minute Maid while losing the three at Yankee Stadium.

Worse, that all-time bitter ouster was sandwiched by an Astros wild-card shutout of the Yankees in 2015, and another ALCS matchup in 2019, which incidentally came a month before The Athletic, via hero/stoolie Mike Fiers, first reported that the Astros literally banged their way to success. So this is actually the first October matchup between the teams since the Yankees learned of the Astros’ overt, obnoxious shenanigans.

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Gerrit Cole successfully put last year's wild-card letdown behind him by winning both of his starts for the Yankees in the 2022 ALDS.

He said being able to deliver for the Yankees was "like a relief."

Nestor Cortes turned in a stunning 2022 season for the Yankees, and the All-Star delivered again on Tuesday by pitching five huge innings on three days' rest.

Cortes explained how he's been able to thrive in big moments.