Given his enormous 6 foot 7 inches height, Aaron Judge has often been at the receiving end of wrong strike calls. Even then, the Yankees captain has been more than courteous, and until May 4th, had never been ejected in his entire baseball career, dating back to his high school days.
That changed when Judge finally lost his cool and called out home plate umpire Ryan Blakney, who had been making rather “bullsh*t” calls all day. This time, Judge didn’t hold back and let Blakney know, plainly disagreed with the ump. In the midst of a few choice words, Judge used the umpire’s ‘blacklisted’ word “you,” and ended up getting tossed in the seventh innings against the Detroit Tigers.
After Judge's ejection, Boone gave him the game ball and a "welcome to the club" pic.twitter.com/nYFmJ6d4hp
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 7, 2024
While this was the first time a Yankees captain was ejected since May 13, 1994, the managers have often found themselves clashing with the umps. Especially Aaron Boone, who was at the verge of creating an ejection record in 2023, before he calmed down. But because this was Judge’s first time, Boone had a special surprise for him.
Boone equivocally mentioned that Judge shouldn’t have been ejected, but because they ended up winning the game, and the series eventually, he could afford to have some fun with it. Subsequently, at the end of the game, he gave Aaron Judge his game ball, with a simple “welcome to the club,” adding, “When it comes to a win, you can have some fun with a ‘welcome to the club.'”
Judge didn’t take much pride in the situation. And given that the game wasn’t an easy victory, and he couldn’t be a part of it after the 7th just made it worse.
“I have a lot of respect for Ryan and what he does. I know their job is tough. I’ve always had their back because their job is tough back there. For that to happen that way, that’s what I’m most upset about, especially late in a close game like that.”
Not many thought that Judge did much wrong, manager Boone included. Anthony Rizzo, always loyal to his captain, wasn’t too quiet about it either. According to a Jomboy breakdown of the event, Rizzo let off at the ump, “That’s the softest shit I’ve ever seen.” But guess what, he didn’t use the magic word “You”, so he gets to stay in the game.
How many times has the Yankees skipper Aaron Boone been ejected?
Aaron Boone entered the Yankees setup in 2018, without any prior experience as a manager in the big leagues. In contrary to the skepticism of many, Boone has done a fairly decent job as a manager. Except, if you’re a Yankees skipper, the fans expect a World Series, and if you don’t get that, you’re not good enough. In his seven-year career so far, he’s already been ejected 35 times, with a record nine times in the 2022 season. In 2023 he was ejected 7 times, and twice so far in 2024, in 37 games.
While his most recent ejection was absolutely bizarre and uncalled for, he has seemed a lot calmer this season. Maybe that’s cause the team is winning so much? Boone also has a solid win record of .588, and has a really good chance to take the Yankees to the World Series this year. This season with a really solid, in-form winning squad will also decide Aaron Boone’s future with the New York Yankees.
