Inside The Pinstripes

MLB Defends Umpire After Yankees Drama

The New York Yankees felt they were on the wrong end of some critical calls against the Astros. The league defended their umpires.
Joseph Randazzo|
Sep 3, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone looks towards home plate during a pitching change in the eighth inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
Sep 3, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone looks towards home plate during a pitching change in the eighth inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

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New York Yankees

Whenever Aaron Boone gets ejected, he speaks with the league and the Senior Vice President of On-Field Operations, Michael Hill. During Boone's tenure with the New York Yankees, he was ejected 45 times, indicating that he had 45 such meetings. During the latest meeting with Hill, they discussed the incidents involving the skipper and reliever Devin Williams. Both were ejected by umpire Brian Walsh.

According to Gary Phillips of Newsday, Hill made several points to Boone. The first was that he does not favor ABS in its present form. The second point is that the umpires do not hold the reputation the Yankees have with umpires against them. The last was that Hill has a great deal of faith in the league's umpires today. He mentioned that the current crews are as good as they've "ever been."

After the Yankees' loss to the Houston Astros, catcher Austin Wells was one of the more vocal players on the Yankees. He supported his teammates despite what he felt was inadequate officiating.

"I felt like there were definitely some calls that we would have loved to go our way," Wells expressed. "I think our guys made a lot of really good pitches tonight and didn't get rewarded for it. That's frustrating and feels like it's been two nights in a row for us. The only thing we're going to do is stick to the plan and keep going, and I think more times than not, we'll come up on the other side."

According to Umpire Scorecard, Walsh's blown calls favored the Astros by +1.4 runs. They mentioned the three most impactful pitches regarding the most significant changes in run expectancy. The first was in the first inning. With one out and a runner on first, a ball was incorrectly called on Will Warren when he had a 1-2 count on Jose Altuve.

The next came in the top of the 4th. On a 2-0 count, a ball was called a strike on Giancarlo Stanton. The last came in the 8th. With two outs and the bases loaded, a ball was called a strike on Williams. Williams later walked Taylor Trammell that at-bat.

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Joseph Randazzo
JOSEPH RANDAZZO

Joe Randazzo is a reference librarian who lives on Long Island. When he’s not behind a desk offering assistance to his patrons, he writes about the Yankees for Yankees On SI. Follow him as @YankeeLibrarian on X and Instagram.

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