The Yankees seem to have a bit of a temper problem this season.
That problem continued for New York this weekend, resulting in the ejection of three Yankees in the sixth inning of Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Indians.
First, manager Aaron Boone was tossed for arguing balls and strikes (again). He made sure to give home plate umpire Ben May a piece of his mind before retreating back to the dugout.
That sparked something in Brett Garnder, who reverted to his, shall we say odd, habit of banging the barrel of his bat on the dugout roof to express his anger. And seconds later, he got tossed too. (CC Sabathia’s incessant chirping at crew chief Phil Cuzzi got him thrown out of the game, as well.)
Check it out:
After the game, Boone defended Gardner’s actions.
“I think it got taken too far with sending Gardner out of the game,” Boone said, per NJ.com’s Randy Miller. “We’re playing for a lot right now and you can feel that with all of our guys right now. We’re playing for keeps. In watching it back, I think it’s clearly something that they were probably looking for with us.
“I didn’t receive any memos saying that (banging the bat on the dugout) was illegal,” he added. “(Gardner) wasn’t saying anything. We get passionate in that dugout and I don’t think (Gardner) was doing anything more than that.”
Gardner echoed that sentiment.
“I have not been told (by MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre) that I can’t hit (the dugout) or make noise,” Gardner said, per Miller.
Mindblowing.
Why you would try to defend actions like this, no matter the situation, is beyond us.
