The offending comment seemed to have come from a spectator sitting behind the first-base dugout.
“It’s embarrassing,” Boone said. “Just not good.”
Boone had barked after the game’s first batter, Esteury Ruiz, was hit on the right foot by a Carlos Rodón slider. Wendelstedt appealed to first-base umpire John Tumpane, who determined that Ruiz had not swung at the pitch and should be awarded first base.
“I really didn’t even go after Hunter,” Boone said. “I was more upset at the appeal. I said, ‘Hunter, you can call it, too.’ He came back at me pretty hard, to which I didn’t respond. I just said, ‘OK.’”
After Rodón’s first pitch to the next batter, Tyler Nevin, a YES Network microphone picked up Wendelstedt telling Boone: “Guess what? You’re not yelling at me. I did what I’m supposed to do and checked [with Tumpane]. I’m looking for him to get hit by the pitch. You got anything else to say, you’re gone, OK?”
The cameras remained trained upon Boone, who scowled while silently chomping on a wad of gum. Seconds later, Wendelstedt tossed Boone, who immediately pointed to the seating area while protesting: “I did not say a word! It was above the dugout!”
Wendelstedt replied: “I don’t care who said it. You’re gone!”
A different camera angle showed that the remark Wendelstedt likely heard had been uttered by a gentleman seated in the first row. Speaking to a pool reporter, Wendelstedt said that he considered Boone responsible for the comment, even if it did not come from Boone himself.
“I know what Aaron was saying, that it was a fan above the dugout,” Wendelstedt said. “That’s fine and dandy. There were plenty of fans that were yelling at me before I called a pitch until the end of the game. What happened was, it wasn’t him, it wasn’t over where it was [bench coach Brad] Ausmus. It wasn’t where the coaching staff and Aaron [were], but Aaron Boone is the manager of the New York Yankees and is responsible for everything that happens in that dugout.
“In my opinion, the cheap shot came towards the far end. So instead of me being aggressive and walking down to the far end and trying to figure out who might have said it, I don’t want to eject a ballplayer. We need to keep them in the game. That’s what the fans pay to see. Aaron Boone runs the Yankees. He got ejected.”