Furious Yankees manager Aaron Boone claims controversial call replay ‘bailed the Guardians out’

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone called out the umpiring crew following Wednesday’s game, saying he believes they ‘bailed out’ the Cleveland Guardians, despite his team winning 4-3.

Boone ended up receiving his first ejection of the season after he led all Major League managers in ejections last season with nine.

On the play in question that led to Boone’s ejection, Yankees centerfielder Aaron Hicks appeared to make a sliding catch which ended up turning into a double play.

The replay was shown on the scoreboard at the stadium, clearly showing that Hicks did not make the catch, and the crowd had a highly vocal reaction before the umpires huddled to discuss the call.

And Boone claimed that by showing the replay to the fans, the crowd’s reaction helped the Guardians. 

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the umpires ‘bailed out’ the Cleveland Guardians

Boone received his first ejection of the seasons after arguing with umpires over a incorrect call

‘I just think it completely bailed [the Guardians] out,’ Boone said.

‘It gets thrown up on the scoreboard. I’m not saying [the umpires] looked at the scoreboard, but obviously you could feel the emotion in the building. 

‘Then it’s them getting together to get it right and then going to Cleveland, I think, in the end bailing them out.

‘I obviously took exception to it. They got the play right, I will say that. But there’s no way that the environment did not create, in my opinion, the end result.’ 

The initial call was that Steven Kwan had tagged up from third base and scored before Hicks’ throw got to second base, which would have given the Guardians the 1-0 advantage and ended the inning.

Following a short delay, the umpires huddled up to discuss whether or not the run had actually scored in time.

The meeting obviously took more than the 15-second review clock that teams are normally given in order to challenge a play.

Boone went ballistic, leaving his dugout and arguing with the officials on the field, which led to his ejection. 

Umpires had initially ruled CF Aaron Hicks led made sliding catch that led to a double play 

The replay revealed that he did not in fact completed the catch and was shown at the stadium

‘There was a very complex play, there was a lot of moving parts, so we wanted to make sure that we had everything,’ home plate umpire Chris Guccione told reporters after the game.

‘The [challenge] clock never got to start. It started the in-between innings clock. So I’m glancing up there. It’s hard to glance at the clock and also explain to Boone what just happened.’

‘That was when Larry [second base umpire and crew chief Larry Vanover] goes, ‘Hold on, we’ve got to fix this. Let’s get together as a crew.’ 

Guccione, spoke in place of Vanover who was taken to the hospital for scans after he was hit in the head by a throw later on in the game.