Yankees' Aaron Boone fumes over umpire's behavior before ejection
Aaron Boone was shown the door early again Thursday night.
The manager was ejected for the second time in four games — and third time in the last 10 — in a 3-1 loss to the Orioles at Yankee Stadium.
Boone was tossed by home-plate umpire Edwin Moscoso for arguing balls and strikes in the middle of the third inning, with Statcast showing at least several pitches by Clarke Schmidt that were called balls were in the strike zone.
“I should not have been thrown out of that game,’’ Boone said.
The manager said he was surprised by the ejection and he was more upset by that — and Moscoso’s “dismissive” behavior — than the calls themselves.
“He wasn’t gonna deal with me,’’ Boone said. “I really didn’t do that much [from the dugout]. I thought there was some egregious stuff going on and he was very dismissive. … I don’t think it warranted being thrown out by any means.”
Aaron Boone argues with the umpires during the Yankees’ loss to the Orioles on May 25. Screengrab
Schmidt got out of the first three innings unscathed, but needed 29 pitches to get through the first inning and threw 97 pitches in his five-inning outing.
After being ejected by Moscoso, Boone came onto the field and yelled at him, and may have gotten some spittle on Moscoso, which could warrant a suspension, though Boone said he didn’t believe it should.
“I hope not,’’ Boone said.
Boone got more visibly angered when Moscoso turned and walked away from him, and the manager was restrained by crew chief Chris Guccione and bench coach Carlos Mendoza, but Boone insisted he wasn’t going to go after Moscoso.
He also made it clear that despite his frustration with Moscoso — and his recent penchant for getting thrown out of games — he is not in favor of bringing an automated ball-strike system to the majors, like the one being used at Triple-A this season, which has drawn negative reviews from Yankees pitchers Luis Severino and Ryan Weber.
“I’m not advocating for robo umps,’’ Boone said. “I think these guys, for the most part, do a great job and work really hard at it. When you’re playing for a lot, there [are] gonna be some issues from time to time. It’s as simple as that.”
Aaron Boone argues with the umpires during the Yankees’ loss to the Orioles on May 25. Screengrab
Aaron Boone argues with the umpires during the Yankees’ loss to the Orioles on May 25. Screengrab
Boone also was ejected during the Yankees’ win over the Reds in Cincinnati on Sunday.
In that one, he was tossed in the bottom of the first inning after a replay review went in the Reds’ favor, deeming that right fielder Jake Bauers had botched a fly ball in fair territory instead of foul.
Boone was not arguing that part, but instead that the umpires allowed Jonathan India to score from first base on the play.
During the live play, first-base umpire Nestor Ceja signaled it was a foul ball, so Bauers did not have any reason to quickly get to his feet after the sliding attempt and try to throw home to get India.
But crew chief Brian O’Nora announced the Reds’ challenge was successful and that Spencer Steer’s fly ball was actually fair for a double, also saying India would be awarded home plate.
Source: New York Post
