New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected in the first inning of Monday’s matinee game against the Oakland A’s, but it won’t be hard for him to prove his innocence. That’s because the YES Network production crew clearly caught the culprit of the jeering that umpire Hunter Wendelstedt thought he heard coming from Boone.
A fan seated just behind the home dugout at Yankee Stadium poured it on Wendelstedt after a couple questionable calls at the plate, and the ump took it out on Boone. When an enraged Boone explained to Wendelstedt that he hadn’t made a peep after being asked to pipe down during the previous at-bat, Wendelstedt could be heard on YES telling Boone, “I don’t care.”
The whole snafu began when Boone took issue with the umpires awarding Oakland’s leadoff hitter a hit by pitch walk to start the bottom if the first. Boone snapped at Wendelstedt, then after the home plate umpire called a clear ball outside the plate a strike, Boone piped up again.
“Guess what? You’re not yelling at me, I did what I’m supposed to do,” Wendelstadt barked at Boone. “I’m not looking for him to get hit by the pitch … got anything else to say, you’re gone.”
The YES cameras kept on Boone, who clearly stayed quiet. However, Wendelstedt heard more chirping (from the fan) and ejected Boone.
When YES went to replay after Boone’s ejection, Wendelstedt could be heard reiterating, “I don’t care who said it, you’re gone.”
Further replay angles showed a man in a blue sweatshirt in the front row hollering at Wendelstedt, leading to the ejection.
After the chaos in the bottom of the first, the fan ditched the blue sweatshirt to try and fly under the radar.
He did, however, keep his Yankees hat.
https://twitter.com/snyyankees/status/1782461163244023917
It is rare that a broadcast can capture such clear audio and video of the minor details within a game. Credit to YES for getting the right coverage to tell the real story here.
As play-by-play man Ryan Ruocco said, “we’re not going to need a Jomboy breakdown of that one,” referencing Jomboy Media founder Jimmy O’Brien’s signature MLB lip-reading videos.
Don’t be surprised if Boone sends these clips in to get his ejection rescinded by the league.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.