Aaron Judge's 1st career ejection features NSFW exchange with ump in Yankees win

It was only a matter of time before Aaron Judge got fed up. And this year we've seen him visibly upset about the poor strike zone from home plate umpires all over Major League Baseball. What's funny is that his first career ejection, which occurred during Saturday's win against the Tigers, wasn't a result of the patented low strike called on the towering slugger for his entire career.

It was outside. And poorly framed. But the point stands. It's never been harder in the history of the sport to hit pitching, and hitters are continuously disadvantaged by the subjectivity and human error of those behind the plate.

Judge has been the most victimized since debuting in 2017 and it appears he's finally fed up in 2024, which probably has to do a little bit with his slow start. He did log two hits, two runs scored and an RBI in the 5-3 win, but he's still slashing just .209/.340/.403.

This all went down in the bottom of the seventh inning when Judge was called out on strikes instead of reaching base for the third time on the afternoon. Home plate umpire Ryan Blakney will be remembered forever.

He served Judge his first ejection in his 870th career game. He will never heave a pleasant visit to the Bronx as long as he's employed as an umpire.

Aaron Judge's 1st career ejection features NSFW exchange with ump in Yankees win

What was pretty awesome about this was the fact it occurred with one out and nobody on base in the inning. The Yankees possessed a two-run lead and had their best bullpen arms (for the most part) ready to shut down the weak Tigers' offense.

But it was seemingly about the principle for Judge, who was witnessing Blakney's poor job all afternoon. Then, to top it all off, Blakney ejected Judge as the slugger was walking back to the dugout. He didn't have the guts to look him in the face and send him to the showers.

Manager Aaron Boone came out to give Blakney a piece of his mind, too, and he said after the game that the ejection "wasn't warranted," adding in a "c'mon man."

Outside of that? It was a lovely afternoon for the Yankees, who punched right back after a first-inning Tigers homer to ride the momentum from Friday night's win. Clarke Schmidt pitched five innings of three-run ball, the offense logged nine hits and a walk while going 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and the team secured another series win.

Oh, and Gleyber Torres did whatever this is? Nonetheless, it's great to see Judge possessing that fire, because this team needs all of it after the two tales that have defined the first six weeks of the season.