Hot Mic Catches Umpire Hunter Wendelstedt Ejecting New York Yankees Manager Aaron Boone
Hunter Wendelstedt tossed New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone early on in Monday's game against the Oakland Athletics, even though it was actually a fan who chirped the umpire.
It didn't take long for the New York Yankees' Monday matinee against the Oakland Athletics to go off the rails.
Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodón seemingly struck out Athletics center fielder Esteury Ruiz to lead off the game, but it turned out Ruiz had been hit by the final pitch of the at-bat. Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt checked with first base umpire John Tumpane to confirm the call, which was upheld.
Wendelstedt didn't like what he was hearing from the Yankees' dugout, especially manager Aaron Boone, so he issued a warning. His microphone was on, giving fans the full picture of what happened next.
"Hey, guess what? You're not yelling at me," Wendelstedt shouted at Boone. "I did what I was supposed to do and checked. I'm looking for him to get hit by the pitch. You got anything else to say, you're gone, ok?"
Boone put his hands up in defeat and looked away. As shown on the TV broadcast, he did not say another word.
Wendelstedt still heard something, though, and tossed Boone on the spot.
Boone immediately got heated, waving his arms around and pointing into the stands in disbelief.
"I did not say a word," Boone said, running up to Wendelstedt. "It was above the dugout. Bullsh*t! Bullsh*t! I didn't say anything! I did not say anything, Hunter!"
"I don't care who said it, you're gone," Wendelstedt replied.
The hot mic finally got shut off, leaving it up to viewers' imagination what colorful language Boone used throughout the rest of his argument. His battle was a fruitless one, and he was ultimately sent back to the locker room for the rest of the afternoon.
As it turned out, a fan in a blue shirt sitting right behind the Yankees' dugout yelled something at Wendelstedt, sparking the umpire's retaliation against Boone.
YES Network got the perfect angle of the incident, exposing the source of the confusion.
This marks the second time this season that Boone has been ejected. He has now been ejected 35 times since taking over in the Bronx back in 2018, with 18 of those instances coming since the start of 2022.
The Yankees wound up losing to the Athletics 2-0.
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