#Brian Boehringer tells the inside story behind his ‘serial killer’ reputation on Yankees

Brian Boehringer made 15 appearances for the Yankees during their 1996 World Series title run, but his steely demeanor was a stark difference from some of the more colorful veterans on the team.

Teammate Charlie Hayes recently joked on The Post’s Pinstripe Podcast that he thought Boehringer was a “serial killer” due to him constantly reading about Jeffrey Dahmer — a notorious serial killer dubbed “The Milwaukee Monster.” Hayes and four-time World Series champ Jeff Nelson, who co-hosts the podcast, laughed in agreement about Boehringer’s unmatched intensity.

“The way he tells the story, it’s a riot – everyone loves that story,” Boehringer said Monday on The Pinstripe Podcast. “He told it to my wife, who told it to everybody when I’m around. It was just the circumstance – I’ve always been into forensic science and I just happened to have a serial killer book in my locker at the time, which he tells in the story. He obviously exaggerates the rest but I was a very quiet guy because I respected all the veterans that were on that team. I just always felt that a rookie should be seen and not heard. I was very quiet, I kept to myself, and then on top of that I guess having that book in my locker didn’t help.”

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Hayes dubbed Boehringer “a different cat” compared to the rest of the team. While his teammates enjoyed goofing around in the clubhouse and in their free time, Boehringer used the time to dive into his books.

“I’ve always liked unsolved mysteries as a kid growing up,” Boehringer, who pitched parts of four seasons with the Yankees, said. “I just kind of gravitated towards that stuff. Back then they didn’t have all these shows that they have on now, so I resorted to reading books at the time. I went to forensics, profilers, different things. It interested me. To this day I don’t know why but it always did.”

Nelson and Boehringer reminisced about the practical jokes and the banter the veterans on the team produced, including getting splashed by water in the bullpen when he forgot to clap, throwing bricks at rats in the stadium and messing with the groundskeeping crew’s tomato garden.

Although he didn’t often partake in the shenanigans himself, Boehringer appreciated the antics.

“I knew they had their thing going on,” Boehringer said. “You know how it is. Those three guys Charlie, Cecil [Fielder] and Rock (Tim Raines), you couldn’t wait for them to get to the back of the bus and just start ragging on everybody, too. I knew stuff was going on but I enjoyed it. To me it was part of the hazing rookies go through. I enjoyed every minute of it.”