Why was Aaron Boone ejected? Yankees manager thrown out during series decider

During the Yankees' game against the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday, New York's manager Aaron Boone was ejected in the first inning for arguing with the umpires over a play he thought was wrongly reviewed.

With two outs in the bottom of the first, the Guardians' Josh Naylor hit a fly ball to center that Aaron Hicks appeared to catch. The umpires, though, decided to review the play after the ballpark screen had showed that Hicks had trapped the ball.

Although teams are supposed to only have 15 seconds after a play to call for a review, Guardians manager Terry Francona took longer to call for a review, which upset Boone. He argued with the umpires and was eventually ejected from the game.

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Why didn't Yankees protest Aaron Boone ejection?

Even though the Yankees won, Aaron Boone was still upset about the Umpire’s decision.

The replay challenge rule changed this season, and managers are given only 15 seconds to decide on a review after having a rarely enforced 20 seconds in past seasons. This year, umpires have a 15-second timer that they’re supposed to enforce. The Yankees, couldn't protest the decision, as MLB has outlawed protests since 2020.

Aaron Boone had reason to be upset as, although the ball was not caught, the Guardians didn't seem to call for a review within the time frame. The umpires' decision to overturn the play and give Naylor a hit and the Guardians a run was controversial. Boone's ejection added to the drama of the game.

The Yankees went on to win the game 4-3 with a ninth-inning run against the Guardians' closer. However, Boone was still angry about the first-inning umpire decision that cost the Yankees two runs.

After the game, he said that he had spoken to the league about the incident, but he believed that the replay and the crowd coerced the umpires into allowing the challenge.