The New York Yankees faced the Oakland Athletics in a Monday matinee showdown. It didn’t take very long into the game for there to be fireworks, either.
Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt tossed Yankees manager Aaron Boone early on into the game. It seemed Wendelstedt heard heckling from the dugout, presumed it was Boone, and tossed him.
Here’s the thing though… it wasn’t Boone. It was a fan who was seated by the dugout. But that didn’t stop Wendelstedt from ejecting Boone and doubling down on it.
“I don’t care who said it. You’re gone!” Wendestedt could be heard saying on the broadcast to Boone.
"I don't care who said it. You're gone!"
Not usually how that works but at least we got an awesome hot mic situation out of this Aaron Boone ejection pic.twitter.com/EX2xUsjtKA
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 22, 2024
This bizarre ejection stirred the MLB world up on Monday afternoon. A lot had plenty to say about this in the moment, especially when YES Network picked up the fan that heckled the umpire.
YES Network had every angle (and all the audio) from Aaron Boone’s ejection, but this is the money shot.
Shows how Hunter Wendelstedt tossed Boone … because of a fan behind the dugout.
To which Wendelstedt says: "I don't care who said it. You're gone."pic.twitter.com/Ua9p9m7Sks
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) April 22, 2024
The fan that made the umpire eject Aaron Boone 😂 pic.twitter.com/wIA5S8iS98
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 22, 2024
Some made jokes about the situation and played it lightly.
tough day for aaron boone 😅😬 pic.twitter.com/hCiKUv46Nx
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 22, 2024
“We’re not going to need a Jomboy breakdown of that one,” Awful Announcing joked.
"We're not going to need a Jomboy breakdown of that one"
YES Network crew captures Yankees manager Aaron Boone ejection after umpire Hunter Wendelstedt hears a fan heckling from the seats
When Boone explains, YES mics pick up Wendelstedt responding: "I don't care, you're gone" pic.twitter.com/YQ0VAoRflV
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 22, 2024
Aaron Boone: “I didn’t say anything!”
Umpire: “I don’t care who said it”
The umpire will probably face 0 repercussions for this. Words cannot describe how much I hate them https://t.co/n944RprVsx
— Addison (@YankeeWRLD) April 22, 2024
this is up there with Tim Duncan getting ejected by Joey Crawford while he was on the bench https://t.co/29iFyXrKuX
— Hector Diaz (@iamHectorDiaz) April 22, 2024
Sometimes, it isn’t difficult to understand why there’s so much resentment for MLB umpires. This particular situation was dreadful. The heckling came from the fan, blatantly so, but Wendelstedt went through with it anyway.
Don’t expect Boone and Wendelstedt to exchange Christmas cards anytime soon after this situation. You just wonder: What was the fan thinking?
