NEW YORK — Aaron Boone was ejected from Monday afternoon's game after someone in the most expensive box seat yelled at an umpire at Yankee Stadium.
Getting fired is nothing new for the Yankees manager, but this one is unique.
Just two batters into the game, plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt threw him out of the game with a dazed cat, and the Yankees eventually lost 2–0 to the Oakland Athletics.
Afterward, Boone called Wendelstedt's actions “embarrassing … not good.”
Speaking to a pool reporter after the game, Wendelstedt gave a different account, saying, “I heard something coming from the far end of the (Yankees) dugout,” and it had nothing to do with “(Boone's) area.”
“But he was the manager of the Yankees. So, he had to go.”
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Aaron Boone: 'I didn't say a word!'
The first player of the game, Esturi Ruiz, was hit on the back foot by a Carlos Rodan pitch.
Boone asked first base umpire John Dumbane whether Ruiz was actually hit by the pitch and whether he swung; Both calls went Oakland's way.
What happened next, as Boone says, “I couldn't believe it.
As heard on YES Network audio, Wendelstedt snapped: “I checked (with Thumpane), you have to say something else, and you're gone. OK?''
Boon nodded and gestured with his hands, “Okay.”
“I didn't really follow Hunter,” Boone said. “I am very saddened by the appeal. Hunter, you can call too' I said.
“He came back at me really hard and I didn't respond. I said OK.”
Moments later, Wendelstedt shouted: “Aaron, you're gone!”
A dazed Boon stormed out of his dugout, indicating that he had said nothing, suggesting that there had been a complaint from the stands.
When Yes Network audio picked up Boone's plea to Wendelstedt, the referee was heard saying: “I don't care who said it, you're gone!”
Boone yelled back: “I didn't say a word, Hunter!” YES audio picked up.
Moments later, Boone took his plea to third base umpire and team leader Marvin Hudson, getting nowhere.
Boone came back to Wendelstedt, this time giving him a heated comment about his decision.
Boone had heard the fan yell something, and “I knew it was a fan,” Rhoden said. “Because he pointed himself out.”
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Wendelstedt: 'Boone runs the Yankees. He was expelled'
By the time Wendelstedt was sent off, a shocked Boon was shown standing in his usual dugout spot, wearing a blank expression and turning his attention to the action on the field.
“I know what Aaron is saying, it's a fan above the dugout. That's fine, fine,” Wendelstedt said, adding that he knows Boone or his coaches didn't say anything that warranted an ejection.
“In my opinion,” Wendelstedt said, “the cheap shot came toward the far end of the Yankees dugout, where the players were sitting.
“So instead of me being aggressive and trying to figure out who might have said it, I don't want to take out a ballplayer,” Wendelstedt said. “We have to keep them in the game. That's what the fans are paying to see.
“Aaron Boone runs the Yankees. He's fired.”
As picked up by YES Network mics, Wendelstedt gave Boone a stern warning before giving him the thumbs up, and Wendelstedt — by his own admission — didn't care where the complaint came from, only that it was heard in the vicinity of Boone's dugout.
As first baseman Anthony Rizzo said after the warning, “Anything from that direction, you're on a very short leash.”
Aaron Boone's fiery reputation with referees
Boone's history in arbitration disputes is notable.
He has now been thrown 35 times since taking over as Yankees manager in 2018 (twice this season), but neither side felt Monday that history played a role in Boone's early exit.
“I think that's a question that a lot of fans and people think about,” said Wendelstedt, who takes a lot of flak at former MLB manager Ron Gardenhire and “people don't realize that Ron Gardenhire. [is stubborn] Like me, after we have a situation, we like to have a cold beer and talk about it.
“So, they have a job and tomorrow is a new day.”
Boone said: “I feel 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 of the famous umpire school.
“In my entire career, I've never fired a player or a manager for what a fan said,” Wendelstedt said, insisting that the offense came from somewhere else in the Yanks' dugout and that Boone was “responsible for his entire dugout.” , not only near him.''
