New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has made a habit out of getting tossed from games, but umpires don't seem to mind his fiery demeanor on the field.
The New York Yankees continue to surge in the standings. Aaron Boone's managerial choices have steered the historic franchise in the right direction, but his reputation on the field isn't squeaky clean. Boone has become a viral sensation for his vociferous rows with umpires.
The MLB recently suspended Boone for a game after he was ejected twice in the same week. In just over five years as a manager, Boone has been tossed 30 times. He is on pace to outstrip some of the MLB's greatest ump-fighters in the ejection category. Not even Bobby Cox got tossed as frequently as Boone.
Ask the umpires who deal with Boone's antics, however, and there's no hard feelings.
MLB umpires have no issue with Aaron Boone's fiery emotions
Boone has the respect of umpires and the league at large. He comes from a baseball family and he has deep roots in the sport. Umpires seem to know his emotions come from a place of genuinely wanting to help his players and motivate his team. As one ump told ESPN's Joon Lee:
"If he crosses a line and makes it personal, then he's probably going to get ejected, but he comes from a great baseball family and he knows what his job is. The whole thing is funny."
Boone's "job," of course, is to win baseball games. And his ejections, while not explicitly beneficial in the X's and O's department, do serve another purpose: they let his team know he's fighting for them.
"I just think it shows what kind of leader he is for this team," Yankees MVP Aaron Judge told ESPN. "I can be mad about this ball and strike, but Booney is going to have my back. He's going to speak up and voice the opinion of the team and me."
With Boone so willing to put his own reputation on the line, not many Yankees other than Boone get ejected from games. Managers are important to set the stage, but players play the game. If Boone can prevent his best players from getting tossed, that's more valuable than making sure he's on the bench for nine innings.
Boone maintains cordial relationships with umps outside of game action. It's nothing personal, of course, and Boone is even attempting to keep his future emotions more in check.
"I'm trying to back off a bit more right now," he said, before also saying that he doesn't want to lose his edge.
We haven't seen the end of Boone's famous gum tosses, nor will it probably take much time for Ejection No. 31 to hit the presses. But umpires, if anything, appear to be getting a chuckle out of Boone's theatrics and there's no bad blood brewing between the two entities.
