Aaron Judge has been a victim of strike calls out of the zone throughout his Yankees career, frequently being struck out on low pitches below his knees.
Despite this, the Yankees skipper had never been thrown and rarely argued with a home plate umpire.
In fact, Judge has never been ejected from a game in his entire baseball career. Not in the minors, college, or even Little League.
That was true until Saturday, the 870th game of his nine-year MLB career.
Judge expressed his displeasure after a called third strike off the outside corner by home plate umpire Ryan Blakney in the bottom of the seventh inning in a 5-3 victory over the Tigers.
He didn’t say much before returning to the dugout and walking away, but Blakney thought it was enough to warrant an expulsion.
The Yankee Stadium crowd of nearly 45,000 roared. Chants of “UMP YOU SUCK” burst out as Judge and manager Aaron Boone confronted Blakney, startled by his swift hook.
Even after the game, Judge and Boone were surprised that Blakney felt the need to dismiss the slugger.
“Very surprising,” Judge said. “Especially in a 5-3 game, late in the game, battling in a 3-2 count and basically walked away saying my piece. I’ve said far worse. Created a scene. I normally try not to create a spectacle in circumstances like that, so it’s no surprise that walking away happened.”
In the moment, one YES Network camera captured Anthony Rizzo yelling from the dugout that Judge’s ejection for one brief comment was “the softest [expletive] he’s ever seen.”
After the game, Rizzo said that Judge had a stellar reputation in the game, referring to him as a first-class player. “Everyone knows that,” he added. Blakney’s decision to throw Judge out as he was already coming back to the dugout was the most perplexing element of the affair from the Yankees’ standpoint.
A pool reporter chatted with crew chief Alan Porter following the last out. Blakney was not made accessible.
“I think there’s a line that you can get to and if you cross it, it warrants an ejection,” Rizzo told reporters. “I just don’t think Aaron got to that point.”
Judge is the Yankees’ first captain to be removed from a game in three decades, following Don Mattingly on May 13, 1994. Derek Jeter was never ejected from a game during his two-decade stint in pinstripes.
“I’ve never tried to show them up, but I guess in this case I did,” the judge remarked.
The judge had every reason to be irritated with the call. He had worked the count full against Tigers reliever Tyler Holton, hoping to improve on his previous effort (two hits, including an RBI double in the early innings).
Holton’s full-count fastball was not just barely off the outer edge; it was a missed spot that required Tigers catcher Carson Kelly to reach all the way across the zone to draw it back.
“This was his first one,” Rizzo added. “I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m sure it’ll be his last one too.”
