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Yankees: Worst possible umpire assigned to Yanks-Indians series

By Adam Weinrib

Manager Aaron Boone #17 of the New York Yankees exchanges words with umpire John Tumpane #74 after he is ejected from the game during the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Yankee Stadium on September 25, 2020 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Manager Aaron Boone #17 of the New York Yankees exchanges words with umpire John Tumpane #74 after he is ejected from the game during the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Yankee Stadium on September 25, 2020 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
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The New York Yankees will have a controversial home plate umpire in Game 2 against the Indians.

No, Angel Hernandez won’t be anywhere near the Yankees-Indians Wild Card series. We assumed that’s why you clicked this? To make absolutely certain that Hernandez wasn’t lurking behind any corners, ready to leap out at a moment’s notice and call a runner safe who wasn’t even in the field of play? “Um, Angel, that’s a tall lamp.”

Well, no. So, I guess it could be worse. But in the context of the current Yankees, there’s no one who’s a worse fit to impartially call the action than John Tumpane.

Well, guess who’s made his way to Cleveland?

Tumpane is the first base umpire in Tuesday night’s opening affair, and based on his interactions with the team this year, he should’ve been sent to a different crew.

You remember Tumpane, don’t you? You don’t need to hop into the wayback machine to recall his impact on the game. Last Friday, he inadvertently got in the way of the Marlins’ catcher, and penalized the Yankees for his malfeasance, taking a stolen base off the board because of his own interference.

Earlier in that game, he ran Aaron Boone after the Yankees’ manager protested another in a long line of horrific low strike calls against Aaron Judge.

Oh, and a few weeks before that, Gerrit Cole struck him in the neck with a 99 MPH fastball. I’d hate the Yankees, too, if he’d ever done that to me.

Maybe I’m old fashioned, but it seems to me the playoffs are the best time to remove any potential biases. Clearly, Rob Manfred favored Tumpane’s crew because they’ve been traveling with the Yanks for a large portion of the season. But I’d posit that familiarity breeds contempt, in this case, and this should never have happened.

Hardly the biggest Manfred error, but yet another notable one!

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