When the Orioles’ lineup was announced in Yankee Stadium before Monday night’s series opener, Aaron Hicks’ name drew the loudest boos. They rained again in the middle of the second inning, showering Hicks after a tribute video highlighting his eight years with the New York Yankees. Choruses have come on either side of his at-bats, including the one that ended with a solo home run Tuesday.
This week marks Hicks’ first series in the Bronx as a visitor since 2015. But being on the receiving end of booing here isn’t unfamiliar.
“I mean, it was like that when I was here,” Hicks said. “I definitely enjoyed my time here. I enjoyed being a Yankee, and I enjoyed the team. It’s kind of one of those things where it’s a little disappointing, but at the same time, it’s like they’re gonna do what they’re gonna do, and I can’t control that.”
The Yankees released Hicks in May amid the fifth season of a seven-year, $70 million extension he signed coming off a 2018 campaign in which he set career highs with 137 games played and 27 home runs. But he struggled to match that production over the course of the deal, navigating injuries and drawing ire from the New York fan base. At the time of his release, the 33-year-old outfielder was hitting .188 with a .524 OPS and one home run in 2023.
But since signing with Baltimore days later, he has shown he is still capable of playing well. Tuesday’s home run marked his fifth as an Oriole, coming in his 28th game with the team to match his total this year with the Yankees. Signed as a fill-in when Cedric Mullins suffered a right groin strain, Hicks has slashed .264/.379/.494, earning the opportunity to remain in the lineup upon Mullins’ return.
“I felt like the whole time [in New York], I was just trying to play for playing time,” Hicks said. “To be able to come here and play every day, it’s been huge. Of course, the change of scenery has been good.
“Everything’s been positive since I’ve been here. This team is fun. They’re young, and they’re hungry, and it’s been fun to be here.”
Hicks has said as much since arriving in Baltimore, donning a beard he was unable to while operating under the Yankees’ facial hair policy. Still, Hicks said he doesn’t feel he has something to prove to his old organization, noting he remains close to many of his former teammates. In the first two games of the series — both Orioles losses — he’s 2-for-7 with a walk and two strikeouts.
He said before the series he wasn’t certain what the fans’ reaction would be to him, though he’s aware of how they generally treat visiting players. After two days of boos, Hicks acknowledged he “kind of assumed” that would be the case, given what he experienced over his final months with the organization.
“I kind of went down a struggling road in which I really couldn’t get myself out of it,” Hicks said. “I feel like when I started to have kind of success, I really wasn’t given an opportunity. And now that I’m over here, I’m getting a lot of opportunities, and I’ve been trying to make the most of it.”
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said Hicks has been doing exactly that.
“Ever since he’s been here, he has been a huge boost for our team,” Hyde said. “What he’s brought from a veteran leadership standpoint and the at-bats that he takes during the game, the defense he’s played, he’s been wonderful for us.
“We don’t have a ton of older veteran presence in our lineup, and so I was hoping that he could come here and just kind of maybe play easy and play like he has nothing to lose. And he did that.”
Hicks has said the environment helps. In the Yankees’ clubhouse, he was one of several high-priced veterans. In the Orioles’, he’s one of few experienced players. As of the start of the season, he leads the club in major league service time, entering the year with two more days than veteran Kyle Gibson, a former teammate with the Minnesota Twins who he’s reconnected with in Baltimore.
“A polarizing player on the road always gets it,” Gibson said. “He did a lot of good things for this team, and I know that he was injury-riddled a little bit there toward the end of his stretch here, but playing with him in Minnesota and understanding how good of an athlete he is and how good of a player he is, he’s fit in really well here, and we’re excited to have him.”
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