Yankees manager Aaron Boone defends Aaron Judge after Blue Jays hint at possible cheating

TORONTO – Aaron Boone said “there’s nothing there” regarding Aaron Judge’s glances into the Yankees’ dugout while batting during Monday’s game that had Toronto manager John Schneider and some members of his organization insinuating Judge was looking to gain an edge that treaded the line of illicit.

And all indications Tuesday appear that will be the case.

“We’ve been in contact with Major League Baseball,” Boone said Tuesday. “Our understanding it there’s not going to be any kind of investigation because nothing that went on last night is against the rules.”

The Blue Jays expressed concerns to MLB Tuesday morning about Judge’s caught-on-camera look into his dugout before hitting a 462-foot home run off righthander Jay Jackson in the eighth inning of Monday’s 7-4 Yankees’ victory, essentially intimating the Yankees were engaged in some kind of illegal sign-stealing scheme.

Schneider became aware of it after the game as Blue Jays’ broadcasters Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez, two of the more respected voices in the sport, discussed it during the at-bat. Though they didn’t outright accuse Judge of anything untoward, there was enough implied, which Judge did not appreciate.

“I have some choice words about that, but I’ll keep that off the record,” Judge said Tuesday.

Said Schneider before Tuesday’s game: “It’s a really accomplished hitter who won the MVP last year and I know he means nothing but business and wants to win, I just found it a little funny that he was worrying about his dugout when he was in the batters’ box.

After Judge took a low called strike during the eighth-inning at-bat, Boone was ejected by plate umpire Clint Vondrak. As Boone, and others in the dugout, barked at Vondrak, Judge looked toward the dugout and held up his hand as if to say, “knock it off.”

“There was a lot of chirping from our dugout, which I really didn’t like in the situation where it’s a 6-0 game,” Judge said Monday night.

Though the Blue Jays were skeptical of that claim, it is important to note Judge, who despite the inordinate number of low strikes he has called against him, has an excellent relationship with umpires – and is generally well-liked by the group – because he rarely says anything to them on the field and almost never publicly criticizes them. He has taken such action before in blowout situations.  

Is it possible Jackson, who was optioned Tuesday to Triple-A, was tipping his pitches and/or the Yankees had figured out the intended pitch location based on the positioning of catcher Alejandro Kirk? He is not considered the most adept at protecting signs according to several rival scouts.

Figuring out such information has been a part of the sport about as long as it has existed at the professional level and is generally considered acceptable – all 30 teams attempt in some way to diagnose signs – so long as there isn’t some kind of technological element to it (see the 2017 Astros).

“Definitely,” Judge said of being bothered by the suggestion he might have engaged in something illegal. “Especially with the things that have happened in this game with the cheating stuff. To get that thrown out, I’m not happy about it. But people can say what they want. I still have a game to play, I’ve got things to do.”

The Blue Jays also took issue with the Yankees’ coaches – Travis Chapman at first and Luis Rojas at third – being too far outside of the coaches’ boxes, something MLB addressed with the organization Tuesday. That is high comedy for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is you’re more likely to spot a unicorn in one of the 30 big-league ballparks before spotting coaches planted consistently inside those boxes, if at all.

Chapman and Rojas, however, were both inside the boxes when Tuesday night’s first inning commenced, as were Blue Jays first base coach Mark Budzinski and third base coach Luis Rivera in the bottom half.

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.