New York Yankees star Aaron Judge experienced a career first as he was ejected from a game for the very first time.
The incident unfolded during Saturday’s game against the Detroit Tigers when Judge contested a called third strike by plate umpire Ryan Blakney in the seventh inning.
Amidst one out, Judge faced a full count fastball from Tyler Holton that he believed to be slightly outside the strike zone. Disagreeing with Blakney’s call, Judge was promptly ejected after being called out.
Despite initially heading towards the dugout, Judge returned to voice his disagreement with the call, while manager Aaron Boone joined in the argument.
This marked the fourth ejection of the season for the Yankees and the first involving a player since Anthony Rizzo’s ejection on September 7 by Alan Porter, who was tossed for disputing calls from the dugout.
After making a single and an RBI double in his initial two at-bats, Judge, who is batting .209 this season, managed to break free from an 0-for-14 slump with a single to ignite New York’s victorious rally in the ninth inning of Friday’s game.
Following Judge’s ejection, a portion of the crowd began chanting profanities directed at Blakney.
