Things took an ugly turn in the New York Yankees series opener against the Oakland Athletics when manager Aaron Boone was ejected just four pitches into the game. Boone had an argument with plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt over a hit-by-pitch count, which Hunter dismissed with a warning.
Meanwhile, Aaron Boone kept his calm before a fan’s yelling dropped on Hunter Wendelstedt’s ears, and he mistook him for Boone to eject the Yankees manager. Irked by the unfair ejection, the skipper decided to file an official complaint with the MLB authorities, and the league’s stand on the matter was recently leaked by a source.
MLB Thinks Yankees Aaron Boone’s Ejection Vs Athletics Was A Bad Call!
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone and plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt went to war on Monday over an alleged wrongful ejection call. A fan’s yelling was mistaken for Boone’s protest as Hunter ejected the skipper on the grounds of erratic behavior. However, since the manager hadn’t said anything, he protested and literally pleaded with Wendelstedt to claim innocence. But Wendelstedt was unmoved and upheld the call, saying the nasty comments came from the back of the Yankees dugout. And since Boone runs the team, he had to be the one bearing the consequences. A war of words later breaks out between Boone and Hunter as they accuse each other of creating false media narratives. Meanwhile, Aaron Boone decided to challenge Hunter’s ruling with MLB authorities.
And as per a source of SNY TV, the internal MLB committee has deemed the ejection of Yankees manager Aaron Boone a “bad ejection. This will affect Hunter Wendelstedt‘s overall evaluation. MLB has a standard procedure for evaluating umpires’ balls, strikes, and other calls after every game. If the evaluation is bad, as in Hunter’s case, it would have a huge impact on the body of work for the season. These season evaluations determine whether umpires receive desirable assignments to the All-Star Game and the postseason, which fetches them extra payment. Notably, the evaluation also plays a huge role in promotions to crew chief. Hence, after this bad ejection call, Hunter Wendelstedt’s evaluation would likely take a huge hit and might strip him from All-Star or postseason duties. Interestingly, Wendelstedt is not ever a crew chief, and he did not receive any postseason assignments in 2023.
MLB Analyst Calls For Hunter Wendelstedt’s Suspension Over Lack Of Accountability!
In a harsh take, MLB analyst Jim Bowden responded strongly to Hunter Wendelstedt’s statement after ejecting Aaron Boone, saying that he deemed his call lawful and claimed the noise was from the dugout and not from a fan. To this, Bowden gave Hunter a reality check and asked him to recheck the tapes to seek clarity.
Jim Bowden also deemed Hunter Wendelstedt’s response unacceptable, saying the umpire should be suspended without pay for 1 game for his actions and lack of accountability for his mistake based on his postgame quote. That being said, MLB is yet to react officially on the matter whereas Aaron Boone of the Yankees wants to move on.
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