Aaron Boone Ejection Hammers Home Lack Of Accountability For Umpires
MLB needs to step in and start holding its umpires to account following just a wild situation in the Bronx on Monday...
The wonderful thing about baseball is that you see something brand new every single day.
Now, you wouldn’t think that would be possible in a sport that features a 162-game regular season. But it’s true. Baseball has an incredible habit of showing you something you’ve never seen before on an almost daily basis.
That was certainly the case on Monday.
Just five pitches into a routine April matchup between the Yankees and the A’s at Yankee Stadium - a game Oakland won thanks to a Zack Gelof two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning - we witnessed something truly bizarre and unique. We were treated to a hilariously weird standalone event, the kind of which we really don’t see everyday.
If you missed it, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected just a mere five pitches into the game. That is an impressive feat within itself. It isn’t that often we see managers get tossed out of a game that quickly.
Now, Boone getting tossed out of a game is hardly newsworthy on its own. After all, the Yankees manager has made a habit of storming out of the dugout to argue with the umpire before being swiftly ejected. We’ve seen that story play out a few times now. To be more precise, Boone has been ejected on 35 occasions while manager of the Yankees. This was his second ejection of the year.
No, what made the events of Monday so wild was the fact that Boone didn’t actually do anything wrong. If you missed it, allow me to bring you up to speed on what actually went down at Yankee Stadium. Esteury Ruiz, the leadoff hitter for the A’s, was hit by a pitch by Yankees starter Carlos Rodón. Those in the Yankees dugout felt Ruiz had swung at the pitch, leading to Boone to rush to the top of the dugout steps and protest with home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt.
At this point, it is worth me pointing out that the entire following exchange was brilliantly captured by the YES broadcast, leading to an outstanding minute or so of viewing pleasure. You can check out the whole thing right HERE.
The YES Network mics also picked up exactly what Wendelstedt said to Boone immediately after, which I’ve transcribed below for you:
Wendelstedt: “You’re not yelling at me! 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!”
Before we go on, if you go and watch the footage, you will see that, at this point, Boone clearly raised his hand while leaning on the dugout as if to say he understood and wouldn’t be incurring the wrath of Wendelstedt any further.
However, just one pitch later, Wendelstedt clearly had enough:
Wendelstedt: “You’re done! You’re gone!”
Boone looked absolutely bemused, and his reaction in the moment clearly tells you that he didn’t say anything. Plus, if you watch the clip, the camera is focused on Boone as he’s ejected and he clearly didn’t utter another word after the initial warning from Wendelstedt.
Instead, and this is the bizarre aspect of the whole episode, a fan wearing a blue shirt, who was sat directly behind the dugout, was the guilty party who actually screamed something at Wendelstedt.
Boone ran out from the dugout steps to protest and plead his innocence, but it soon became apparent that Wendelstedt wasn’t interested. His mind was already made up.
Boone: “It was above our dugout! I didn’t say anything! I did not say anything!”
There may have been a few F-bombs chucked in there by Boone for good measure, too.
Wendelstedt: “I don’t care who said it. You’re gone.”
It was truly wild and Boone, understandably so, wasn’t too happy when asked about the crazy exchange after the game:
Boone: “It’s embarrassing. Just not good.”
Quick kudos to the YES Network, by the way, for picking all of that up. It is worth a second and third watch for the entertainment value alone.
Anyway, the craziest thing about the whole ejection actually came after the game, when Wendelstedt decided not to hold his hands up and admit he made a mistake, opting instead to double down. And then some:
“I know what Aaron was saying that it was a fan above the dugout. That’s fine and dandy. Aaron Boone is the manager of the New York Yankees and is responsible for everything that happens in that dugout,” Wendelstedt said. “In my opinion, the cheap shot came towards the far end, so instead of me being aggressive and walking down to the far end and trying to figure out who might have said it - I don’t want to eject a ballplayer. We need to keep them in the game. That’s what the fans pay to see. Aaron Boone runs the Yankees. He got ejected - apparently what he said was there was a fan right above the dugout. This isn’t my first ejection. In the entirety of my career, I have never ejected a manager or a player for something a fan has said. I understand that’s going to be part of a story or something like that because that’s what Aaron was portraying. I heard something come from the far end of the dugout, had nothing to do with his area but he’s the manager of the Yankees. So he’s the one that had to go.”
I mean, talk about a shocking lack of accountability. It would have been a lot easier for Wendelstedt just to say sorry, rather than come out with that utter bullcrap.
And herein lies the rub.
Major League Baseball has a major problem on its hands with its umpires, and they only have themselves to blame for refusing to hold all umpires to account. Just look at how many times Ángel Hernández gets away with making bad call after bad call. It doesn’t matter how many times Hernández craps the bed with what should be a routine call, he gets away with it and doesn’t have to answer for his actions.
It has gotten to the point where I’m convinced Hernández could actually murder a baseball player on the field, and MLB would still allow him to turn up for work the very next day.
Anyway, that’s enough Hernández for one day. I’ll save my full laundry list of gripes with baseball’s worst umpire for another day.
Back to what went down in the Bronx on Monday. The YES broadcast clearly shows that Boone didn’t yell anything towards the umpire. Even Wendelstedt himself admitted that Boone “probably, you know, is not the one who made the comment.” Yet, Wendelstedt still tossed Boone out of the game anyway and he probably won’t be asked to explain his actions to the powers that be in the Major League Baseball office.
Boone was tossed from the game for something a fan said. He was punished for nothing, and was prevented from doing his job for absolutely no reason at all. And the Yankees lost the game to an Oakland team that is fielding a Triple-A lineup. Yet, will Wendelstedt be taken to task and be forced to review his own performance?
If we’ve learnt anything from how Major League Baseball deals with Hernández’s many, many, many shortcomings during games, then the answer is very likely a resounding no.
And that is hugely problematic.
How are umpires meant to improve and learn from their mistakes if they aren’t being held to account by their employers? Careless behavior is only likely to continue if it is not discouraged and dealt with immediately.
We now live in an age where umpires act like they are the star of the show. And they aren’t. But they behave in such a manner because they can. They know they can do whatever the hell they want and get away with it. MLB clearly isn’t going to punish them for not doing their jobs. They haven’t up until this point, at least.
As a result, we’re seeing more and more basic mistakes by umpires on a daily basis, leading to games being lost and unwanted headlines acting as a black eye to the game. All because umpires want their moment in the spotlight.
Monday was clearly a case of Wendelstedt choosing to aggressively escalate a situation on purpose, and the footage proves emphatically that the umpire was determined to go after Boone no matter what. He had no interest in acting as the keeper of peace, and the fact that Wendelstedt refused to apologize after, instead doubling down on his mistake and going after Boone further was just absurd.
That can’t be allowed to happen.
But, until umpires are held to account by MLB and forced to apologize, then what we witnessed on Monday will keep on happening. And that isn’t good for the game of baseball one bit.
Major League Baseball needs to be proactive on this matter. There needs to be a lot more accountability from umpires throughout baseball.
And quick.
Otherwise, what we saw on Monday will become a regular occurrence. And nobody wants that.