A botched call in a Yankees-Guardians game led to a heated moment between Aaron Boone and the umpires. With two runners on and one out, Cleveland’s Josh Naylor hit a shallow pop-up to center. Aaron Hicks appeared to catch it, and the Yankees turned a double play to end the inning. But replays showed Hicks trapped the ball. The umpires missed it, and confusion followed. Both teams had a 15-second window to challenge. Instead of reviewing the potential trap catch, both replay crews checked tag-up timing and the scoring runner.
Neither manager wanted to risk a challenge. If the Guardians challenged the catch, the run might be wiped. If the Yankees challenged the run scoring, the umps could notice the ball wasn’t caught. So both managers kept quiet. Once the replay was shown on the stadium screen, the umpires approached Terry Francona and appeared to offer him a late chance to challenge. That’s when Boone lost it. He erupted on the umps for giving the Guardians extra time to challenge outside the allowed window, something he argued they had been warned against during spring training. Boone got tossed, launched into multiple f-bombs, and even signaled a protest.
In the end, Boone admitted the umpires got the call right on the field after the late review but called the process inconsistent and unfair. His main issue was how MLB has enforced the 15-second rule, something he said has been stressed since spring. He was furious that the umpires allowed Francona to challenge only after the stadium replay exposed the missed call. Boone felt he played by the rules and got burned for it.