MLB Umpires Talk Yankees' Aaron Boone's Ejections: 'The Whole Thing Is Funny'
June 9, 2023
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has led or co-led American League managers in ejections each of the past two seasons, and he's on pace to do that again in 2023 with an AL-leading four ejections.
One might think that umpires are tired of Boone, who has the third-highest ejection rate in MLB history, per ESPN's Joon Lee. However, umpires aren't taking his behavior personally.
Per Lee, Boone's "relationships with the crews behind the scenes remain extremely friendly and cordial, according to multiple umpires."
"If he crosses a line and makes it personal, then he's probably going to get ejected, but he comes from a great baseball family and he knows what his job is," one umpire told Lee. "The whole thing is funny."
Another veteran umpire didn't seem to mind either.
"Not many Yankees get ejected—he's always taking the fire," the umpire said. "He's just doing the job that he's supposed to do."
Boone has been ejected 30 times since 2018, when he became the Yankees' manager. His ejections have sometimes gone viral, never more than in 2019 after this Jomboy Media breakdown of his dismissal against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Boone's gum tosses have also received notoriety.
"To see him waste one, and knowing how much he loves it," Yankees star Aaron Judge said regarding the gum, per Lee, "it means a lot."
Boone was suspended for one game after his fourth ejection this year, which occurred on May 25 against the Baltimore Orioles. Ultimately, Boone is hoping to slow his ejection rate down.
"Going to slow down then," Boone said.
"But all of a sudden, you have three in a week. I don't want to get tossed. I'm trying to back off a bit more right now. But at the same time, not wanting to lose the edge that I want our players to have and things that I want to fight for. I don't want our players to get kicked out at all if possible."
Boone's other ejections occurred April 12 in Cleveland, May 15 in Toronto and May 21 in Cincinnati. He's been ejection-free since the Orioles game, and now he'll lead the Yankees on a three-game homestand against the Boston Red Sox starting Friday.
