NEW YORK – Someone in a very expensive box, yelling at an umpire at Yankee Stadium, is the reason Aaron Boone was ejected from Monday afternoon’s game.
Being ejected is nothing new for the Yankees manager, but this one was unique.
Just two batters into the game, home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt pointed at a stunned Boone and ejected him from the game, an eventual 2–0 Yankees loss to the Oakland Athletics.
Afterward, Boone called Wendelstedt’s actions “embarrassing…but not good.”
Speaking to a pool reporter after the game, Wendelstedt gave a different account, saying he had “heard something coming from the end of the (Yankees) dugout”, which was “nothing to do with the (Boone) area.
“But he’s the manager of the Yankees. So he’s the one who had to leave.”
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Aaron Boone: “I didn’t say a word!”
The first batter of the game, Esteury Ruiz, was hit on the back foot by a pitch from Carlos Rodon.
Boone requested calls to first base umpire John Tumpane about whether Ruiz had actually been hit by the pitch and whether it had swung; both calls were directed to Oakland.
What happened next, well, as Boone said, “I couldn’t believe it.”
As heard on the YES Network audio, Wendelstedt yelled at Boone: “I checked (with Tumpane). You have anything else to say, you’re gone. OK?”
Boone nodded and made an “OK” sign with his hands.
“I didn’t even go after Hunter,” Boone said. “I was more upset during the call. I said, ‘Hunter, you can call him too.’
“He answered me quite harshly, to which I didn’t even respond. I just said OK.
A moment later, Wendelstedt shouted, “Aaron, you’re gone!” »
Stunned, Boone came out of his dugout, indicating that he had said nothing and that the complaint came from the stands.
As YES Network audio captured Boone’s plea to Wendelstedt, the referee was heard saying, “I don’t care who said it, you’re gone!”
Boone replied, “I didn’t say a word, Hunter!” » as the audio of OUI repeats.
After a few moments, Boone took his plea to third base umpire and crew chief Marvin Hudson and got nowhere.
Boone then returned to Wendelstedt, this time just to give him a passionate opinion on his decision.
Boone had heard the fan yell something, and “I knew it was a fan,” Rodon said. “Because he was pointing the finger at himself.”
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Wendelstedt: ‘Boone leads the Yankees’. He was expelled’
A shocked Boone was shown standing in his usual dugout, wearing a simple expression and with his attention diverted to the action on the field, at the time of Wendelstedt’s ejection.
“I know what Aaron was saying, that there was a fan above the dugout. That’s great,” Wendelstedt said, suggesting he knew Boone or his coaches hadn’t said anything which justified expulsion.
“In my opinion,” Wendelstedt said, “the low shot came towards the end” of the Yankees dugout, where the players were perched.
“So instead of being aggressive and going all the way and trying to figure out who could have said it, I don’t want to throw a baseball player out,” Wendelstedt said. “We have to keep them in the game. That’s what the fans pay to see.
“Aaron Boone manages the Yankees. He’s been forced out.”
As picked up by YES Network microphones, Wendelstedt offered a stern warning before giving Boone the thumbs up, and Wendelstedt – by his own admission – didn’t care where the complaint came from, only that it had been heard near the Boone shelter.
After the warning, as first baseman Anthony Rizzo said, “Anything that goes in that direction, you’re on a very short leash.” »
Aaron Boone’s fiery reputation with referees
Boone’s history of confrontations between referees is remarkable.
He has now been struck out 35 times since taking over as Yankees manager in 2018 (twice this season), but neither team felt Monday that history played a role in the early expulsion of Boone.
“I think it’s a question that a lot of fans and people think about,” Wendelstedt said, adding that he often dismissed former MLB manager Ron Gardenhire and “people don’t realize that Ron Gardenhire (is stubborn) like me and then we might have a situation, we’d like to have a cold beer and talk about it.
“So they have a job to do and tomorrow is a new day.”
Boone said, “I feel like I’m treated fairly by the umpires and have good relationships with many of them, including Wendelstedt and his father Harry, a longtime NL umpire and operator. from a renowned arbitration school.
“In my entire career, I have never ejected a player or a manager for something a fan said,” Wendelstedt said, insisting the offense came from elsewhere in the Yankees dugout and that Boone was “responsible for his entire shelter.” , not just its neighborhood.
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