Paul O’Neill didn’t want to leave Cincinnati. The Ohio native grew up idolizing the Big Red Machine, was drafted by the Reds in 1981, made his big-league debut with them in 1985, and won a World Series as a Red in 1990.

But the baseball gods had other ideas for O’Neill. He was traded to the Yankees just as the franchise was turning the corner and became a batting champ, a fan favorite and a four (more)-time World Series champion. The right fielder’s penchant for delivering huge hits -- and for taking out his frustrations on the dugout water coolers when he didn’t come through -- endeared him to the Bronx faithful, as well as to Yankees late principal owner George Steinbrenner, who dubbed O’Neill “The Warrior.”

On Aug. 21, nearly 30 years after the trade that brought him to New York, O’Neill and his family will gather in Yankee Stadium to see his No. 21 retired, an honor reserved for the most special players ever to wear the pinstripes. Leading up his big day, the 59-year-old YES Network analyst chatted with Yankees Magazine executive editor Nathan Maciborski about what it means to be part of the pantheon of legendary Yankees.

Yankees Magazine: How are things going in preparation for Aug. 21? At this point, do you have a pretty good idea of how it’s going to go and who’s going to be coming with you here that day?

Paul O’Neill: Well, it’s kind of been expanding every day, but the Yankees are so good at this stuff. My wife, Nevalee, is working on it with (senior vice president of marketing) Debbie Tymon. It’s a big deal, and a lot of people are coming from the Midwest, a lot of my family, my kids from other places. So, yeah, it’s a big event, and we are planning day by day how to make it work.

YM: There will be a lot of No. 21 jerseys in the stands that day, worn by fans eager to chant your name and cheer for you like they used to. How much are you looking forward to hearing and feeling the Yankee Stadium love again?

PO: Yeah, I mean, there are some things that never get old. The Yankee Stadium crowd and then the field and the Stadium itself -- that’s what this game is about. Walking in that place, visiting players feel it, the players today feel it, ex-players feel it. There’s just something special about Yankee Stadium. The fans have been wonderful to me, and I’m looking forward to the day.

YM: Your final home game is one of those moments that nobody will ever forget. What else sticks out to you as far as the Stadium crowd and the sound that the fans are capable of making during a special moment like that?

PO: There were certain times in the old Stadium -- Don Mattingly’s playoffs; I remember Joe Girardi’s triple when I got to score in the 1996 World Series. It’s the playoff and the World Series moments that really come to mind. Obviously, there’s certain times throughout the season where you have a walk-off win or something. But when you look back at the late ’90s, it was all somehow, some way getting it done in the playoffs and getting to the World Series and just the excitement around it, both in the clubhouse and in the city.

YM: Looking back at those dynasty years, there was a different player in left field for the final out of each of those four championships, but always you in right and Bernie Williams in center. How fondly do you recall your time as teammates, and do you guys still keep in touch?

PO: We do. I speak with Bernie every so often. And you know, he’s done unbelievable things in music. But it’s always fun to get back with the guys that you played with. Whether you’ve talked to them recently or you haven’t talked to them in a while, as soon as you’re back in the same room, it’s like time has never left. It was so much fun, so many years that I played next to Bernie, so many years that we threw between innings and talked and played music together. I consider Bernie a very close friend. And actually, the day that the Yankees announced my number retirement, he posted something that was very special. To have ex-teammates recognize things like that and root for each other, I thought it was really neat.

YO: For some guys, coming back for a ceremony like the one on Aug. 21 is a homecoming or a reunion because the fans haven’t had a chance to see them or hear from them in some time. But your broadcasting career has enabled you to stay very much a part of the fabric in the Bronx. How much do you relish being able to keep that connection to the organization so strong for all these years?

PO: There’s not a day that goes by that somebody doesn’t either speak about when I played or what’s happened recently because I called the game. And that, to me, is a special thing, to be associated with the Yankees for this long, because they are a franchise that is looked upon by everybody. When you talk baseball or talk sports, to say you’re associated with the Yankees in any way, there’s a lot of pride involved in that.

YM: Speaking of the team’s TV announcers, there were some great ones when you were playing here: Phil Rizzuto and Bobby Murcer and Jim Kaat and those guys. What did you take from them and some of the interactions you had with them when it came time to become a TV broadcaster yourself?

PO: I agree with you. There are voices that just mean baseball, and Jim Kaat was there, Ken Singleton was there when I was playing. Phil Rizzuto, I heard so many tapes and clips. Bobby Murcer worked while I was playing, then I had an opportunity to work with him. So, you kind of pass the torch in baseball, and you also do in broadcasting. I’ve worked with so many people, and the YES Network has been so good to me as far as giving me an opportunity and bringing this to me the year after I retired. It’s amazing to me that I’ve been broadcasting longer than I played, and sometimes you kind of scratch your head and think, That can’t be. But time does fly.

YM: You played 17 years in the bigs, and it’s been how many years in the booth now?

PO: Oh, about 104, I think, right? No, I started in 2002, and so, 21 seasons. That’s a lot of baseball.

YM: It sure is. You added further to your media resume this year with Swing and a Hit, which is an excellent book. How did the process go of working with Jack Curry on it? And what are your thoughts on how it has been received so far?

PO: You’re always kind of blown away if it’s received well, and from my understanding, it has been. I trusted Jack, I’ve known Jack for years, I’ve worked with Jack, and this idea was brought to me a couple years ago, then was put on the back burner when everything went wrong in the world. But I’m proud that Jack was the writer on it and helped me, and we got a lot of things across. I just hope people enjoy a journey of baseball. It’s not just, you sign a contract and you go to the Major Leagues. There’s a lot more involved.

YM: There’s stuff in there that’s interesting even for non-baseball fans about how you were able to stay true to your core beliefs throughout your entire career. Does that still carry through today in everything you do?

PO: It does to a certain point. When you’re taking advice from guys that you idolized growing up, because they were Major League players and now they’re coaches, you always take all the information in. And if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. But sports and life have a lot of parallels, and this book, if you take certain things out of it -- whether it’s core beliefs, or the ups and downs -- sports and life have a ton of things in common, and that’s always been very interesting to me.

YM: You grew up one of six kids, and it’s probably safe to say your sister Molly was the most talented writer in the family. (Ed. note: Molly O’Neill was an extraordinary author and food journalist for The New York Times before she passed away from cancer in 2019.) What do you think she would have said or written about her brother getting his number retired by the New York Yankees?

PO: It would be much more eloquent than I would describe because she was a good writer, and she had a good way with words. My brother, Robert, also was a writer, and my mother was somewhat of a writer. So, our family was always into sports, but education and writing and things like that were very important to my mother. We rooted for each other, we congratulated each other, and we also teased each other and were very competitive. So, there was a mixed bag when you look at growing up in Columbus, Ohio, in a large family.

YM: Did you know during your time as a player that you would stay involved in baseball one way or another once you hung up the spikes, or did you envision something else for your post-playing days?

PO: When you’re playing baseball, that’s your life, and you don’t look past who’s pitching tomorrow or who you’re playing tomorrow. And then when it was all over, (YES Network president of production and programming) John Filippelli called me and asked me if I would be interested and pretty much talked me into giving it a shot. It worked. And it was still fun. The further you get away from the game, it becomes much easier to just kind of sit back and enjoy the games and the talent that’s on the field. The first couple of years, you look out there, and you’re very critical because you feel like you can still do things. Where now at this age, you’re just amazed by the athletes on the field.

YM: There has been much to enjoy about the first half of this season for the Yankees. Do you see any similarities between the vaunted ’98 team that you were such a big part of and this year’s Yankees squad?

PO: The winning part, sure. The similarities are going to be judged upon whether they hold up a trophy at the end of the year. That’s the ultimate goal. And when you have a year like this -- and it has been a special year; it’s been a fun year to call, it’s been a fun year to watch -- you put yourself in a position where you have to win the World Series to make this year complete. There are so many good things happening on the field. There are so many good stories. It has been a fun first half. What we have in store the second half, we’ll see. And what we have in store in October will be the final chapter of this.

YM: Are there any qualities that Aaron Boone displays that remind you of Joe Torre in any way?

PO: I think that Aaron Boone has really evolved into a great manager. Joe Torre had unbelievable people skills as far as a manager, which wasn’t thought upon as being important and is much more important now because there are so many different personalities with the new game of baseball. So, I think Aaron Boone has done an unbelievable job as far as evolving, becoming a better manager, being able to talk to the media every day, being able to protect his players on the field when he needs to. He shows emotion, he cares about winning and losing, and coming from a family like his, Aaron Boone is a lifetime baseball guy, and that’s easy to see.

YM: Getting back to your upcoming honor and thinking about your place in Yankees history, just how special is it to be joining the pantheon of retired numbers, a group that includes several legendary right fielders, such as Babe Ruth, Roger Maris and Reggie Jackson?

PO: That’s the first thing that I thought about when I received the call from the Yankees saying that they were going to retire this number. I’m glad I didn’t have to try out for this team because you look at those names out there, I probably wouldn’t make it! It’s just an unbelievable honor for any team, but it’s a different honor because it’s the Yankees and the tradition and the names that go along with it. This day will be an unbelievable celebration for myself and my family, but to know that once the day is over, that nobody will wear that number because it was retired, that’s the lasting part of it. It’s been a whirlwind of a year. I now have two grandchildren under a year old at this point. When they understand the game, whether it’s five, 10 years from now, to be able to look up and see 
No. 21 and say, “That’s my grandfather,” that’s the neat thing, and that’s the thing that will last.

YM: Heck, they can come here 50 years from now, when they’re grandparents, and that No. 21 is still going to be hanging out there. Your legacy is permanent now. It’s there forever.

PO: Since I received that call from the Yankees, there hasn’t been a day go by that I don’t kind of pinch myself. It’s kind of an amazement at what happened from just a day that started out in November 1992, not really certain of what was going to happen, being traded from the Reds to the Yankees. And now I’m here, and I look at it as probably the best day of my life, career-wise.

YM: You played 17 seasons, won five World Series, five-time All-Star, batting title. What are you most proud of?

PO: I think, at this point, just the association with a team that won four out of five World Series. You don’t know when that’s going to happen again, or if it’s going to happen again. While you were going through it, it was just what happened and then what was expected. But then when you break it down, and you look at the players, with Jeter and Posada and Pettitte and Mattingly and Cone, if you can be in the conversation with all those people that fans remember -- Hey, I remember those teams. I remember growing up with those players. … And I remember that that guy played right field. -- that’s enough.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.