NEW YORK — They say every trip to the ballpark provides the chance to see something you’ve never seen before. The Yankees’ 5-3 win over the Tigers on Saturday at Yankee Stadium provided just that: an Aaron Judge ejection.
The Yankees’ slugger had never earned an ejection in the Majors before home plate umpire Ryan Blakney tossed Judge shortly after he rang him up on a strike three call in the seventh inning. Plainly disagreeing with the call, Judge gave Blakney a knowing glance and muttered a choice word or two, but he did not turn to argue while he walked back to the dugout, which is when the ejection happened.
Judge’s first ejection came in his 870th big league game. He also became the first Yankees captain to be ejected from a game since Don Mattingly on May 13, 1994. Judge said it was the first ejection of his life, at any level of baseball.
“Apparently Aaron did not agree with the pitch and said something that you shouldn’t have said, and he was ejected,“ crew chief Alan Porter told a pool reporter. “We do what we can to keep guys in the game, but he said something he shouldn’t have said. … There are things you cannot say no matter what’s going on. Things that you can’t say, and he apparently did.”
After the game, Judge declined to reveal what he said to Blakney, saying, “We’ll leave it out there [on the field].”
“I was walking away kind of saying my piece,” Judge said. “I’ve said a lot worse. [The ejection] made a scene, and I usually try not to make a scene in situations like that, so I was a little surprised walking away that it happened.”
Judge acknowledged that he disagreed with Blakney’s strike three call, which may have nicked the outside corner. Judge and manager Aaron Boone said they were surprised by the ejection, given Judge’s track record and often respectful demeanor.
Asked if he felt the ejection was warranted, Boone said plainly, “No.”
“I was surprised,” Boone said. “Judgy says very little, usually. [He was] very respectfully walking away.”
Said Judge: “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.”