Yankees manager Aaron Boone discusses umpires and Wednesday's ejection
Yankees manager Aaron Boone, right, has words with home-plate umpire Brian Walsh, left, as first-base umpire Adrian Johnson stands between them after Boone was ejected during the eighth inning on Wednesday in Houston. Credit: AP/Karen Warren
HOUSTON — In Aaron Boone’s tirade Wednesday night after earning his American League-leading sixth ejection of the season in an 8-7 loss to the Astros, the Yankees’ manager multiple times provided this review for plate umpire Brian Walsh and his work:
“You [expletive] stink!”
A day later, Boone stressed something he’s said more than a few times in recent years when it comes to the overall work of umpires, with whom he’s had an at-times-fiery relationship in his eight seasons as manager.
“You’ve heard me say this before. As much as I get into these things with umpires, probably more than any other manager, it’s just because I know how much we preach to our guys about controlling the strike zone,” Boone said before Thursday night’s series finale. “It’s something I’m always going to passionately fight for and defend for in the moment.
“But I also have tried to acknowledge, and I mean it, I think for the most part, a lot of these umpires are as good as they’ve ever been. The way they train now, the way they’re graded, the way they’re scrutinized and things like that, I feel like there’s a ton of really great umpires out there.”
Objectively, Walsh, a minor-league call-up umpire, isn’t there yet. His inconsistent work behind the plate drew the ire of both teams throughout the night, but especially from the Yankees in the eighth inning when Devin Williams walked three batters. The reliever’s third walk, to Taylor Trammell, came with two outs and the bases loaded, forcing in a run that gave the Astros a 5-4 lead.
Boone took out Williams, who was ejected while walking back to the dugout.
“I already looked at it,” said Williams, who was ejected for the first time in his career. “He definitely missed four [pitches], which is what I told him, and he threw me out for it.”
On his way back to the dugout, Boone was tossed by Walsh and then got his money’s worth — players, managers and coaches are almost always fined an undisclosed amount after they’re ejected — after getting in the umpire’s face.
The Yankees still were vexed after the loss, one that ended with Jazz Chisholm Jr. getting called out on a borderline full-count pitch — replays showed it to be slightly outside — leaving Giancarlo Stanton, who homered earlier in the game, on deck.
“Jazz got the bat taken out of his hands on a pitch that was a lot further from the zone than pitches I was making,” Williams said.
While some players all but blamed the umpiring for the loss — “Just feel like it was gifted to them,” rookie Will Warren said — Boone didn’t go there either in the moments after Wednesday’s game or again on Thursday while discussing it.
“I try not to say we lost or won because of this [or that],” Boone said. “There’s a lot of things that go into it.”
The website umpscorecards.com agreed with the assessment that Walsh had a bad night. According to the site, Walsh had an overall accuracy of 90% on the 167 total pitches that were taken in the game, with a called ball accuracy of 93% and a called strike accuracy of 85%. Most significant, the site said Walsh’s calls favored the Astros by 1.4 runs, the highest number for one team on the site this season.
The @UmpireAuditor X account reported that Walsh missed 21 calls, 15 going against the Yankees. According to Baseball Savant, Walsh missed 10 calls that were inside the strike zone, nine of which went against the Yankees, and 11 calls outside the strike zone, six of which went against the Yankees.
“I think our guys made a lot of really good pitches tonight and didn’t get rewarded for it,” catcher Austin Wells, who in general has a good relationship with the umpires, said after Wednesday’s game. “That’s frustrating. It feels like it’s been two nights in a row for us . . . We go back and watch video, try to get better. I hope those guys [the umpires] are going to do the same.”
Boone, meanwhile, led or was tied for the AL lead in ejections the previous four seasons and seems a lock to make it five straight years atop that category this season. However, he said he doesn’t believe any umpire has called something against the Yankees because of his reputation as a serial complainer.
“No, I don’t think they ever do something intentionally,” Boone said. “I don’t think it’s ever intentional by an umpire, if they don’t like me or they’re angry with me or like me or whatever, I think they’re out there wanting to get everything right.”
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.
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