Boone explains how calling strikes works to the ump, a breakdown
What Happened
In a hot and humid game in St. Louis, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone is growing increasingly frustrated with home plate umpire Ed Hickox's strike zone. Boone believes Hickox is calling too many outside breaking balls as strikes, favoring the pitchers and irritating both teams. In the pivotal fifth inning, the Yankees trail the Cardinals by two runs with the bases loaded and no outs. Marwin Gonzalez steps up to the plate, and on a 3-1 count, Hickox rings him up on a pitch that appears well outside. Boone cannot believe the call and holds back his anger for the moment. The next batter, DJ LeMahieu, also gets rung up on a questionable outside pitch. Boone erupts, yelling at Hickox and claiming the calls are "not even close." Boone is ejected, but not before getting his point across forcefully. Aaron Judge then steps up and crushes a game-tying home run, shifting the momentum. However, the frustration with Hickox's strike zone continues, as the umpire calls another outside curveball to Matt Carpenter a strike. Boone re-engages, tossing his gum and getting in Hickox's face. He argues passionately that the pitch was "a fucking ball" and that Hickox is making impossible calls with the game on the line. Boone demonstrates the location of the pitches, trying to get the umpire to see how far off the plate they are. Hickox stands his ground, noting the difficulty of calling pitches at 100 mph from 60 feet away in the sweltering heat. Boone counters that the job is "a ridiculous task" for 60-year-old umpires and that the game may be better served by automated strike zones. Ultimately, Boone is ejected, but his fiery defense of his players has energized the Yankees, who have overcome the umpire's questionable calls to tie the game. The exchange highlights the ongoing debate over the role of human umpires in an era of rapidly advancing technology and the challenges they face keeping up with the sport's elite athletes.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentIt was hot as hell in St. Louis, and Ed Hickox is behind the plate
calling every outside breaking ball a strike, getting the game over with,
or just can't pick up on it, frustrating everybody, both sides, both teams,
everyone getting annoyed, all the pitchers understanding,
ooh, I can just use the outside to get myself a strike.
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And Trevino calls that one.
That started outside, never really came back, and he's just kind of,
I'm a catcher, so I'm enjoying this as well.
Looks at Boone.
Oh, God.
Okay.
Now a big spot in the game.
Base is loaded.
Yankees are down by two runs.
It's a fifth inning.
There's no outs.
They can attack here.
Marwin Gonzalez is up.
They try to go outside.
Two outside.
That's a ball.
2-0.
Fouls it back.
Outside.
3-1.
Fouls that fastball.
Full count.
Strikes him out instead of walking in the next two-time run,
the fifth run.
Marwin's upset.
Boone, he can't believe it.
Holding it in for now.
The pitch is pretty way outside.
Ball four.
Should be a run.
Should still be bases loaded.
No outs.
Next batter, DJ comes up, and they're going to attack him outside again,
and they get the call.
And DJ's thinking, what the hell?
And he looks at Boone, who's yelling, not even close.
Shit.
The fuck are you looking at me?
I'm not the one messing up out here.
Next pitch.
Next pitch.
That one's dotted by Stratton,
but now DJ knows that outside is exposed because it may be a strike,
so he chases.
That's really good pitching by Stratton and Yachty calling it
because watch the first pitch.
We saw this one.
He gets the call outside strike.
So then the next one, he throws it again,
but it's actually in there for a strike.
Gets the call again.
So they're like, well, let's just move that outside again
because DJ's going to have to protect against it,
and DJ chases it because he doesn't know what it's going to be called,
and he's out.
Now Judge comes up, curveball in the zone, smashes that.
That ties the game.
We're moving.
We're jumping.
No one's mad at the ump anymore.
We're over it.
It's come and gone.
These kids are excited.
Let's go.
Carpenter's up outside, too far outside.
Then the curveball outside, a strike, and they're like, come on, man, again?
Just because you keep calling it, Eddie,
just because you keep calling it doesn't make it a strike.
You're gone.
You're gone.
Get out of here.
Boone takes the gum out of his mouth, tosses it.
That's what he always does.
He needs a clean mouth to argue, and he says, you just keep calling it.
It's not a strike.
Just because you keep calling it doesn't make it a strike.
It's fucking hot out here.
But I don't know how you can stand there and see a ball that fucking far off.
You have three fucking two with the bases loaded, nobody out,
and it was that far off the plate.
I don't know how you can stand back there,
look at that, and call it a strike.
And Eddie's like, oh, it's so hot.
What are you talking about?
And he says, come here.
Look, I'll show you.
It's that far off.
Come on.
Come follow me.
An umpire just follows him and says, okay, what are you showing me?
A fucking ball.
I understand he's throwing gas.
All right?
I get it.
But those pitches are not even close.
You got the game on the fucking line right now.
Let's go.
And he's out.
And the umpire's just standing there like, I'm 60 years old.
It's hot as hell.
And you want me to just call 100-mile-hour pitches,
ball strikes, an inch off the plate?
We're not.
Why?
This should be a robot's job.
Booney leaves, and he gets to go enjoy the AC
while Hickox has to stay in the game.
Hot as hell.
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In all honesty, I don't blame umpires for missing strikes and balls at all.
The game moves so fast.
It's hot.
It's hot as hell out there.
And we got 60-year-olds standing for four hours in the heat
with multiple layers on and a mask.
And we're saying, hey, tell me if that ball is an inch on the plate or not.
It's traveling at 90 miles per hour.
It's a ridiculous job.
And quite frankly, they're a little too old to be doing it.
I don't understand.
I don't understand why that is what it is.
I mean, if you're a 60-year-old dad,
you found out he was just standing in the 99-degree sun for four hours straight,
you'd be worried about him.
And these guys are doing it and held accountable
to keep up with the best athletes in the sport.
Something's got to change about that.
It's not their fault they missed these calls.
It's an impossible task.