Aaron Judge, a star player for the New York Yankees, reached a new milestone during a game on Saturday afternoon. For the first time in his career, he was ejected from a game after arguing a called third strike by home plate umpire Ryan Blakney in the seventh inning. The incident occurred when Judge disagreed with a 3-2 count fastball from Detroit Tigers pitcher Tyler Holton that he believed was outside the strike zone.
The umpire, Ryan Blakney, believed that Judge should have swung at the close pitch despite the strike zone graphic showing that the pitch was on the edge of the plate but outside the zone. Judge expressed his disagreement with the call before walking back to the dugout, where he was ejected by Blakney. Despite being taken out of the game after going 2-for-4 with an RBI, and with his season average increasing to .209 after the game, Judge maintained respect for Blakney and acknowledged how difficult their job is.
This ejection marked a significant moment in Judge’s career as it was his first time being tossed from a game. It also made him the first Yankees captain to receive an ejection since Don Mattingly in 1994, with Derek Jeter never experiencing an ejection during his 12 seasons as captain. The team went on to win the game 5-3.
