Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner was tossed in the fourth inning of Friday’s game in Toronto by umpire Chris Segal for… sitting quietly with his arms crossed in the dugout.
In the middle of a Mike Tauchman at-bat, Segal turned to the Yankees dugout and ejected a member of the team. Manager Aaron Boone walked out and asked who Segal had tossed, and was stunned to hear that Gardner had been thrown out of the game. Replays showed that Boone and other Yankees in the dugout were chirping at Segal at the time of the ejection, but Gardner never opened his mouth.
Gardner had no idea he had been ejected, but after a long delay, Gardner leapt out of the dugout and had to be restrained by Boone as he ripped Segal over the decision.
Gardner had previously banged his bat on the dugout roof, but that didn’t trigger the ejection, and Gardner noted after the game that it “wasn’t against the rules.”
After the game, which the Yankees lost 8-2, Gardner said Segal lied to him about the incident.
“I went out there to talk to him, tell him I didn’t say anything, and he got it wrong. And then he looked at me and told me ‘he saw me say it,’ or say something. Which, uh, made me mad, because he was lying. Because I didn’t say anything. But it’s all on video.”
