A sequel to 'Savages in the box' rant as Boone gets tossed

NEW YORK – On a summer afternoon in 2019, Yankees manager Aaron Boone unleashed an epic rant on a rookie umpire, declaring that his hitters were “savages in the box” while unintentionally giving birth to a cottage industry of T-shirts and other paraphernalia.

That same umpire, Brennan Miller, was working second base on Tuesday evening in the Yankees’ 5-4 victory over the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. And when Miller ruled Anthony Volpe out on a fourth-inning steal attempt, it sparked a sequel between the pair.

The Yankees challenged the call at second base, which was ruled to stand after a lengthy review. Boone tossed his gum in anger after the call, spending the next half-inning barking expletives from his perch at the top step of the dugout.

“Probably just me being overamped, I don’t know,” Boone said.

The situation largely cooled until the seventh, when Jazz Chisholm Jr. lined out to center fielder Daulton Varsho on a diving catch, a call made by Miller. The Yankees did not have a challenge remaining, so they could not ask for the umpires to examine if the ball had touched grass.

Boone barked toward Miller, appearing to yell, “Nice job!”

It resulted in Boone’s second ejection of the season and the 48th of his career, tying Tommy Lasorda and Billy Martin for 26th place on the all-time managerial list.

That’s good company, no doubt, but it also forced Boone to watch the final outs from his office.

“I thought there were two missed calls tonight,” Boone said. “I thought Anthony was safe at second base, and then I thought the ball was trapped in the outfield, and we didn’t have a challenge in that spot.

“That being said, I probably overreacted to it a little bit. I kind of snapped on it a little bit because I felt there were two calls, and then when you can’t challenge because you feel like one’s already been missed – I didn’t control myself very well.”