Yankees' Boone, Gardner and Sabathia ejected in wild scene as feud with umpires continues
In what has seemingly become a weekly occurrence, an umpiring crew threw an ejection party at the expense of the New York Yankees.
Manager Aaron Boone, outfielder Brett Gardner and pitcher CC Sabathia, who’s currently on the injured list and was a mere spectator for Saturday’s 6-5 win against the Cleveland Indians, were all ejected during the sixth inning.
Why Aaron Boone was ejected
The disagreement stemmed from the Yankees’ frustration with the strike zone of home-plate umpire Ben May. It started when Cameron Maybin was called out on a pitch he felt was off the plate. It appeared Maybin continued chirping as he walked back to and through the dugout.
At some point, Boone joined the discussion without leaving the dugout. May could be heard saying “no more” and then “you’re out.” That marked the end of Boone’s day, though not before he got his money’s worth.
Why Brett Gardner was ejected
After Boone made his case, the game resumed. However, within seconds, May’s attention was back on the Yankees dugout. That’s because Gardner was causing a ruckus by banging his bat in the dugout roof.
For whatever reason, that’s become Gardner’s personal reaction whenever the Yankees are frustrated with an umpire. He just jams his bat into the dugout roof repeatedly. Now Boone thinks it’s something the league and umpires are looking for and punishing without merit.
Aaron Boone said there has been no communication from the league office that banging your bat is not allowed. Even so, he believes the umpires were looking for it today.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) August 17, 2019
Says Gardner:
Brett Gardner: "Maybe I can use something else to hit something else. Maybe I can take the helmet to the helmet rack and that’s not as loud and it’ll be OK."
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) August 17, 2019
This marks the third notable confrontation between the Yankees and umpires over the last month.
The most talked about incident occurred on July 18, when Boone was involved in the infamous ““f------ savages in the box” run-in with umpire Brennan Miller during the first game of a doubleheader. Boone was suspended one game for his actions that day.
Both Boone and Gardner were ejected after another heated confrontation with umpires on Aug. 9 in Toronto. It seemed that Gardner’s ejection in Toronto and on Saturday stemmed were entirely due to his dugout antics.
Why CC Sabathia was ejected
While the Boone and Gardner situation were still simmering, CC Sabathia reportedly got into a heated discussion with crew chief Phil Cuzzi. That led to his ejection.
CC Sabathia was ejected by 1B ump Phil Cuzzi. Yes, you can be ejected when you’re on the IL. He just gets tossed from the dugout.
When Sabathia is activated tomorrow and makes the start, the home plate umpire will be...Phil Cuzzi.— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) August 17, 2019
Needless to say, it was another wild scene.
Now it will be interesting to see what the fallout is.
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