Yankees Manager Aaron Boone Ejected in Controversial Fashion
The Yankee skipper is no stranger to getting tossed, but his ejection on Monday immediately became controversial.
Although the New York Yankees suffered an embarrassing 2-0 shutout loss to the lowly Oakland Athletics on Monday, that wasn't even close to being the most embarrassing moment of the day.
Just two batters into the game, umpire Hunter Wendelstedt went on a power trip and ejected Yankees manager Aaron Boone - even though Boone was an innocent party.
Esteury Ruiz, the first batter of the game, was hit on the foot by a pitch from New York starting pitcher Carlos Rodon; Ruiz was awarded first base, but Boone and the Yankee dugout protested, believing that Oakland's leadoff man offered at the 0-2 pitch and should have been rung up. This led to a clear exchange on the YES Network broadcast between Boone and Wendelstedt.
"You're not yelling at me!" Wendelstedt yelled at New York's skipper. "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!"
Boone obliged and returned to the Yankee dugout, as Tyler Nevin came to the plate to face Rodon. However, a fan sitting behind the dugout wearing a blue sweatshirt voiced his displeasure at the call; Wendelstedt, believing the heckling came from Boone, promptly tossed him from the game. "You're done! You're gone!" Wendelstedt shouted at Boone.
Naturally, being a Boone ejection, this resulted in a lot of profanity from the Yankee skipper. However, the 51-year-old was justified in his protests; in a damning statement from Wendelstedt, he shouted "I don't care who said it! You're gone!" to ignore Boone's pleas.
The fan who inadvertently caused Boone's ejection took off the blue sweatshirt to avoid further suspicion. Nonetheless, YES Network cameras consistently cut to the fan (wearing a white shirt) throughout the game. Meanwhile, bench coach Brad Ausmus took the reigns for the Yankees for the remainder of the afternoon.
After the game, an understandably confused and angry Boone continued to voice his displeasure of the ejection in his press conference. According to beat writer Bryan Hoch, the Yankee skipper plans to reach out to MLB.
"It was hard to [wrap my head around it]," Boone said. "I really didn't even go after Hunter, I was more upset on the appeal... It's embarassing."
MLB's umpires have come under scrutiny in recent years, mainly due to their lack of accountability when they make obvious mistakes; Angel Hernandez, C.B. Bucknor, and Laz Diaz are notorious culprits in this regard. But Wendelstedt's adamancy in ejecting an innocent party - even if said innocent party was previously arguing before following orders - is a blatant display of abusing power as the umpire, and creating a massive distraction throughout the game.
When all is said and done, Boone has been ejected 35 times since being hired as Yankee manager in 2018, and is tied for 48th all-time in managerial ejections in just his seventh season. Out of those ejections, however, none of them were as undeserving - and embarrassing - as this.
