The Yankees won their rubber-game matchup against the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Sunday. Manager Aaron Boone was in the dugout for the whole game, but as usual, he voiced his displeasure with the umpiring he had to watch.
Aaron Boone DURRRRRR pic.twitter.com/XIvqp4NBgx
— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) June 5, 2023
You’d think that after what he’s done so far in 2023, he’d find a way to share his opinions in a different manner. He hasn’t figured that out yet.
Boone has been ejected four times through New York’s first 61 games. His most recent ejection on May 25th was accompanied by a fine and one-game suspension. That’ll happen when you get sent to the locker room early three times over a 10-game span.
But as we’ve seen, that doesn’t seem to be stopping Boone from managing how he wants to manage. This is his sixth year as skipper of the Yankees and he’s already racked up 30 ejections. He’s just four ejections behind Mets manager Buck Showalter. He’s been tossed 34 times across 22 big-league seasons.
In fact, Boone is already tied for 57th all-time on the managerial ejections list. Only one manager ahead of him (Bill Dahlen, 36 ejections in 615 games) has done it in fewer games. The rest have been in the dugout for at least 1,000. There are five active managers ahead of Boone, and only one (Bud Black) has been managing for fewer than 20 seasons. Bruce Bochy — who is in his 26th big-league season as a skipper — is the active leader with 78 ejections.
So, Boone is just about halfway there despite Bochy having a 20-year headstart. That’s actually quite impressive. His rate of getting ejected throughout his managerial career is about once every 26 games. Before he got ejected against the Orioles, Boone told the guys at Talkin’ Yanks that he doesn’t like doing it:
Aaron Boone told us on Tuesday how much he dislikes getting ejected lol pic.twitter.com/YFMB0Lotlu
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 25, 2023
But, hey man — you can not like it all you want. When you’re in the heat of battle, emotions can just get the best of you.
The journey toward the top of this all-time list is going to take Boone a while (if his pace slows down). Only three skippers have been ejected 100-plus times in their respective careers. This includes Bobby Cox (162), John McGraw (121), and Leo Durocher (100). But if we expand it to the top six: Earl Weaver (96), Tony La Russa (93), and Frankie Frisch (88), they have one thing in common.
They’re all Hall of Famers. So, it’s clear to see what Boone’s motivation is here. Wear your heart on your sleeve and you’ll eventually get enshrined in Cooperstown. Yankees fans would be fine with that if there’s a World Series title mixed in there somewhere. And, preferably, more than one like his obvious role model, Bobby Cox.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
