MLB

MARCH SURGERY DOESN’T STOP FORMER YANK BOONE

NOT EVERY home run comes on the baseball field. Aaron Boone knows that better than anyone.

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Hitting that magical ALCS-winning homer for the Yankees against the Red Sox in 2003 was a life-changing moment. Being able to come back from open heart surgery in late March and play again in the majors this weekend, though, is the apex of his story.

Boone, a third-generation major leaguer, is deeply appreciative of the road he has traveled.

“Once I knew I had to have the surgery, baseball was off the list,” Boone told The Post from Phoenix, where he returned to the Astros last night and will be activated Tuesday. “It was about getting this thing done and making sure you are alive and well and then we’ll see.”

Boone’s doctors at Stanford Medical Center hit their own home run, correcting a congenital defect in his aortic valve that could have led to a heart attack or stroke.

“People want to talk to me about how amazing it is that I’m back, I’m not the amazing part,” Boone said. “The science behind it and the team of people that performed the surgery cared for me and are looking after me. That’s the awesome part.”

Six weeks ago Boone’s wife Laura gave birth to their second child, a daughter, Bella. They also have a 4-year-old son, Brandon.

“Life, you never know what to expect, you just have to try to live it to the fullest,” Boone said. “I feel like I have a pretty healthy perspective on life. I have a strong faith. Events like this definitely sharpen that perspective and make you appreciate things even more. The year we’ve had, with my wife being pregnant and having a child and then me having this surgery, it’s certainly been a crazy year, an emotional year and in a lot of ways a great year.”

He has a deeper appreciation for that home run.

“The amazing part about it is the significance of that rivalry in the sports world and in our culture and certainly the amount of times that it gets brought up to me,” Boone said. “If I meet somebody for the first time, that’s what they ask me.

“Initially, when I first went to Cleveland, I think in a way, I tried to distance myself from it a little bit, but it’s something now that I have a deeper appreciation for.

To have a small place in the history of that rivalry and to be able to play in those games, which are so awesome to be a part of, at the end of the day, I think it’s something that I’ve learned to embrace.”

The Yankees haven’t surpassed the Red Sox in the postseason since Boone’s Bucky Dent-like moment.

Boone, 36, was aware of his heart condition for years.

“I was first diagnosed with it for my physical at USC my freshman year,” he said. “It’s something that I was born with. I knew this day was out there some day, but it wasn’t really reality because I still saw it as out in the distance. I think it kind of snuck up on me a little bit this spring. I didn’t realize it was going to be now.”

One of the greatest aspects of the experience has been how people who have reached out to the 11-year veteran.

“Not that I didn’t have faith in humanity, but the amount of people reaching out, and what it has meant to me, has really been touching,” Boone said.

One family, which has a 17-year-old son with a similar condition, has been in close contact with Boone.

“I talked to the kid and his dad and texted back and forth, it was cool for me to be able to talk to the kid,” Boone said.

He said he heard from people across the board, including actor Will Ferrell.

“Jorge [Posada] and Mo [Mariano Rivera] left me an awesome message, so many people I’ve played with or against, and some I didn’t know very well, they just wanted to track me down, and it all meant so much,” he said.

“I’m just looking forward to the next chapter.”

kevin.kernan@nypost.com