MLB umpires weigh in on Aaron Judge's controversial slide vs. Brewers

BALTIMORE – Does Aaron Judge need to change the way he slides into second base?

Not necessarily, but the Yankees captain may well get called for interference the next time a play happens similar to the one that took place Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee (and there’s no guarantee there will be a next time as that kind of play had never before occurred with Judge in his nine years in the majors).

“In real time it’s a difficult call,” one big-league umpire, who was not one of the four working last weekend’s Yankees-Brewers series in Milwaukee, told Newsday. “But, seeing the replay, I agree with Andy.”

That would be Andy Fletcher, the crew chief for the series, who after Sunday’s 15-5 Yankees victory said his crew “missed” what should have been an interference call against Judge in the sixth inning. The Yankees scored seven runs to break open what had been a 4-4 game entering the inning.

A Newsday straw poll of a handful of big-league umpires – all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because Major League Baseball generally prefers to control when, where and on what topic, umpires talk to the media – elicited more or less the same answer.

(And before the reflexive they-all-stick-up-for-each other reaction, none thought Hunter Wendelstedt acquitted himself particularly well in his postgame comments April 22 after ejecting Aaron Boone for something a fan yelled from behind the home dugout, something umpires received a memo about from the league when it comes to talking to pool reporters).

Backtracking to Sunday’s situation: Judge led off the sixth inning with a walk. Alex Verdugo bounced one to second and Brice Turang threw to second base. Shortstop Willy Adames took the throw on the bag for the force, but his relay to first hit Judge’s sizeable left hand, made even more sizeable by the oven mitt favored by him, and many base runners throughout the sport, for protection.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy argued with second base umpire Derek Thomas that interference should have been called and, after the umpires conferred, the non-interference call stood.

“It should’ve been called interference because it wasn’t a natural part of his slide,” Fletcher told a pool reporter after the game, though Judge would disagree (and video evidence from Judge’s career shows he’s gone into second similarly). “We did everything we could to get together and get it right. But after looking at it, it appears that it should’ve been called interference.”

But whether or not it’s a “natural” part of Judge’s slide isn’t especially relevant, another umpire said.

Nor, he said, is necessarily the “intent” of the runner, Judge or anyone else (and, it should be noted, Judge is far from the only player who slides feet first in that manner).

Interference, and all of its permutations, is covered extensively in Major League Baseball’s official rule book.

But the most germane to Sunday’s situation is covered in Rule 6.01 (a) (10) and Rule 6.01 (a) (5).

Though Rule 6.01 (a) (10) says interference can be called when a player on offense “fails to avoid a fielder who is attempting to field a batted ball, or intentionally interferes with a thrown ball,” Rule 6.01 (a) (5) is more general. It states there can be interference when: “any batter or runner who has just been put out (as Judge was)…hinders or impedes any following play being made on a runner (Verdugo in this case). Such runner shall be declared out for interference of their teammate.”

It is not unusual for umpires to receive memos from the league on various plays throughout a season, particularly ones like from Sunday that fall in the “fluky” category.

“A memo might come out,” a third umpire said. “Now we all will be watching for Judge sliding in, but not just Judge, anybody.”

On Monday Boone was asked about Fletcher’s comments, which the Yankees manager already was aware of, and had sought clarification from the league.

“You look at how Aaron slides, when you slide, you put your arms up,” Boone said. “That’s usually how you go in to slide…Aaron’s very big, so it looks maybe a little different when you break it down and they actually hit his hand.”

Before Tuesday night’s game, Boone he had spoken to the league, but didn’t receive the clarification he sought, saying there was plenty of gray area.

“I didn’t feel like I got conviction on it,” Boone said. “It does not have to be intentional, but if you don’t view it as intentional, it’s got to be something that you think is something out of the ordinary of what you’d normally do. I don’t think that met the criteria.”