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.
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.
Some made jokes about the situation and played it lightly.
“We’re not going to need a Jomboy breakdown of that one,” Awful Announcing joked.
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?
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022