Hunter Wendelstedt pushes back on Aaron Boone blaming fan for ejection

The umpire responsible for the questionable first-inning ejection of Aaron Boone isn’t buying the Yankees manager’s fan explanation.

Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt tossed Boone just two batters into the Yankees’ 2-0 loss to the A’s in The Bronx on Monday.

Boone and the Yankees dugout were voicing their displeasure after umps ruled A’s leadoff batter Esteury Ruiz checked his swing when he was hit by a Carlos Rodon pitch in an 0-2 count, which allowed him to go to first base. “There was a pitch down. I thought it hit him, the batter. I sent him to first base,” Wendelstedt told a pool reporter after the game. “The Yankees asked me to appeal to first base, which I did. The hitter went down. The Yankees’ dugout started, you know, obviously arguing that situation kind of in my opinion too extreme.”  Wendelstedt gave the Yankees a final warning before ejecting an unsuspecting Boone after hearing something he didn’t like coming from the direction of the Yankees dugout.

Boone leaped out of the dugout and pointed at the seats to tell Wendelstedt that whatever was yelled came from a fan and not the Yankees.

Wendelstedt responded, “I don’t care who said it, you’re gone.”

After the game, the umpire provided an account of what happened from his perspective – pushing back against the idea he would eject a manager over a fan’s comments.

“I know what Aaron was saying that it was a fan above the dugout. That’s fine and dandy,” Wendelstedt said. “There were plenty of fans that were yelling at me before I called a pitch till the end of the game. What happened was, it wasn’t him, it wasn’t over where it was (bench coach Brad) Ausmus was. It wasn’t where the coaching staff and Aaron, but Aaron Boone is the manager of the New York Yankees and is responsible for everything that happens in that dugout.

“In my opinion, the cheap shot came towards the far end (of the dugout). So instead of me being aggressive and walking down to the far end and trying to figure out who might have said it, I don’t want to eject a ballplayer. We need to keep them in the game. That’s what the fans pay to see. Aaron Boone runs the Yankees. He got ejected.

“Apparently what he said was there was a fan right above the dugout. This isn’t my first ejection. In the entirety of my career, I have never ejected a player or a manager for something a fan has said. I understand that’s going to be part of a story or something like that because that’s what Aaron was portraying. I heard something come from the far end of the dugout, had nothing to do with his area but he’s the manager of the Yankees. So he’s the one that had to go.”

Video of the incident clearly shows a fan seated behind Boone yelling right before the ejection.

Boone tried to plead his case one more time to tell Wendelstedt he “did not say a word” before telling the ump his decision was “bulls–t.”

Wendelstedt, who had yet to see the replay, agreed Boone was “probably right” about a fan yelling, but stands by what heard.

“When I had heard enough of their expression, I gave them a final warning. And it just so happened that besides the fans that were probably, you know, if you said you can see a fan yelling at me. He wasn’t the only one and it probably lines up with behind Boone and maybe that’s what Booney heard was that hey this guy behind me (was yelling),” Wendelstedt said.

“I was approaching Aaron Boone because of something that happened at the further end of the dugout and as manager of the Yankees, he’s responsible for the entire dugout, not just his vicinity and that’s just how I took it.”

The ump admitted the situation might have been handled differently years ago.

“Back in the olden days when Marvin (Hudson), first got here, we would have gone to the dugout and picked somebody but through experience and learning you know fans come out to see the players remain in the game,” Wendelstedt said.  “It’s foolish to throw out a player if you don’t know who did it. The manager’s there, Aaron took the hit and he probably, you know, is not the one who made the comment but once again, he’s the manager of the Yankees and he’s responsible for the team.”

“It’s embarrassing,” Boone said when asked about the ejection. “It really is a bad… It’s embarrassing. Just not good.”

Wendelstedt, who dismissed the idea of Boone’s history of ejections playing a role, was ready to move on from all of it.

If you look up my ejections you’ll see Bobby Cox multiple times, Ron Gardenhire and I a lot,” he said. “People don’t realize that Ron Gardenhire is a stubborn German like me and after we might have a situation we’d like to have a cold beer and talk about it. So, they have a job to do and tomorrow’s a new day. “If I saw Aaron walking out, he’s gonna ask me where I’m going to dinner. I hope he has a good time with his family tonight. And then we’re going to play baseball tomorrow. It’s a whole new day.”