NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 18: Manager Aaron Boone #17 of the New York Yankees argues with home plate umpire Brennan Miller #55 during the second inning of game one of a doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on July 18, 2019 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone had an epic rant on Thursday, confirming himself as an advocate for robot umpires and providing a t-shirt slogan in one fair swoop.
A rainout Wednesday night forced the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays to play a doubleheader on Thursday. So everyone was probably a little cranky in the face of a long day at the ballpark, and it probably wasn’t going to take much to set off Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone.
After Yankees’ outfielder Brett Gardner was called out on a questionable third strike in the second inning Thursday afternoon, he acted out in the dugout. But Boone came out and went after rookie umpire Brennan Miller, who was working the plate for just the fifth time in his big league career.
Merely arguing balls and strikes automatically gets someone ejected these days, and we can assume some “magic words” come with it. It’s rare we actually hear a manager’s rant, and Boone went full-on NSFW (even with the requisite bleeps).
My guys are f—ing savages in that box and you’re having a piece of s— start to this game,” Boone said. “I feel bad for you, but f—ing be better. That guy is a good pitcher and but our guys are f—ing savages in that box. Our guys are savages in the f—ing box. Tighten it up right now, OK? Tighten this s— up.
When asked to explain his tirade after the game, Boone chalked it up to the heat of the moment.
As reaction to the quotes from Boone’s rant surfaced, “f-ing savages in that box” stood out as an easy t-shirt slogan. Right on cue, we got two nice renditions from RotoWear and Barstool Sports.
Beyond making a contribution to capitalism and entrepreneurship via an accidentally fantastic t-shirt slogan, Boone can definitely now be counted among the advocates for an electronic strike zone.