DUNEDIN, Fla. — When the U.S. men followed the U.S. women in beating Canada in the gold medal hockey game at the Olympics, Aaron Boone said he sent a meme — Hulk Hogan playing a guitar — to his former ESPN broadcast partner, Toronto native and Blue Jays broadcaster Dan Shulman.

It was a good-natured exchange between friends. It also was what Boone could not do last year for himself — in the regular season or playoffs — against Canada’s lone major league team.

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For the Yankees, it continued an issue that has beset them for years, notably during Boone’s tenure.

The Yankees are good every year. Usually very good. Eventually, though, they run up against a team in the playoffs that is no less than their equal and their season ends.