The call stood after replay, which Boone called ‘remarkable’
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected for the first time this season on Sunday during an eventful 4-0 victory against the Tampa Bay Rays (box score). Boone, who admitted afterward that he got “hot” early on, received an opportunity to both vent and protect a star player in the eighth inning. That’s when outfielder Aaron Judge was subjected to a sequence that began with a missed home run and concluded with a disagreeable strike-three call.
Judge appeared to launch his eighth home run of the season on a 3-2 pitch from reliever Eric Orze. The umpiring staff, including home plate umpire Adam Beck and third-base umpire Scott Barry, deemed it to be a foul ball. That call stood after a review on the grounds that they could not find conclusive evidence to overturn the call on the field.
“The audacity of the call standing is remarkable,” Boone said after the game. “It’s a home run. Didn’t go our way though.”
A pitch later, Judge was called out on strikes. That’s when Boone came onto the field, not only to keep Judge in the game, but to voice his own displeasure with the afternoon’s umpiring.
The strike three pitch to Judge had a 66.2% called strike probability, according to TruMedia’s calculations. Judge did receive a favorable call earlier in the at-bat, when Beck called a 1-1 offering a ball; TruMedia’s data had that particular pitch at a 93.4% called strike probability. Still, combined with the missed home run, you can understand why the Yankees were annoyed (for the second time this week, mind you).
“I think everybody is kind of scratching their head, but nothing we can do about it,” Judge said after the game. “They missed it and we just have to move on”
Now in his eighth season at the helm, Boone has been ejected 40 times throughout his managerial career. That number includes at least six times in each of the past four seasons, as well as four or more times in every campaign except the pandemic-shortened 2020 schedule.
Boone has guided the Yankees to a 14-8 start to the regular season, good for first place in the American League East. The Yankees are without ace Gerrit Cole, slugger Giancarlo Stanton, righties Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman, and third baseman DJ LeMahieu.
