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Yankees' Brett Gardner charges at umpire after being mistakenly ejected

Mark Townsend
·Yahoo Sports Contributor
·3 min read

Was it a case of mistaken identity that got New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner ejected from Friday’s 8-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

According to Yankees manager Aaron Boone, that’s exactly what it was.

On the same day Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was confronted by police after being confused with a car thief, Boone says home plate umpire Chris Segal was incorrectly convinced Gardner shouted an expletive in his direction during the fourth inning.

The incident resulted in Gardner charging out of the visitor’s dugout and right at Segal, before being restrained by Boone.

If not Brett Gardner, who?

As several video breakdowns seem to indicate, it was actually Cameron Maybin who yelled “f------ terrible at Segal. Gardner was visibly silent, though he wasn’t completely innocent, either. After Maybin’s strikeout on a questionable low strike call, Gardner was seen jamming his bat into the dugout roof. We’re sure that helped bring the umpire’s attention in his direction.

Segal signaled for the ejection after a first pitch strike to the next batter, Mike Tauchman. Boone initially ran on the field to question whether he’d been ejected. He wasn’t, but he wasn’t thrilled with the response he got from Segal when informed that Gardner was out.

Yeah, that wouldn’t fly in a court of law. And it’s really not a good look for an umpire to just guess who may or may not have been chirping at him.

Gardner charges the field

Once Gardner got wind of his ejection, he charged out of the dugout and relayed a similar message. Just with more colorful words.

That’s an apt description.

After the game, Boone was in a little better mood when discussing the incident. He even joked that Gardner was stronger than he thought.

The league probably won’t share his sense of humor.

Another heated confrontation

The confrontation comes three weeks after Boone was involved in the infamous ““f------ savages in the box” run-in with umpire Brennan Miller at Yankee Stadium on July 18. Boone was suspended one game for his actions that day.

The July 18 confrontation also centered around a beef involving Gardner. The Yankees veteran even put a few dents in the Yankee Stadium dugout doing the same routine of jamming his bat into the roof.

There were no microphones close enough to pick up Friday’s exchange, and there was no evidence of damage to the dugout... yet. But one can imagine Major League Baseball will be examining all angles of the Yankees latest heated confrontation with an umpire.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone and outfielder Brett Gardner were involved in another heated confrontation with an umpire. (Fred Thornhill/The Canadian Press via AP)
Yankees manager Aaron Boone and outfielder Brett Gardner were involved in another heated confrontation with an umpire. (AP)

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