Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

“Audacity”: Aaron Judge Denied Home Run in Controversial Moment and Aaron Boone Was Not Having It

Daylight robbery!

Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Aaron Judge hit a ball that should’ve left no doubt. Instead, it created absolute chaos.

In the eighth inning of the Yankees’ 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday at George M. Steinbrenner Field, Judge crushed a pitch from Eric Orze down the left field line. The sound off the bat, the trajectory, and even third-base coach Luis Rojas’ reaction all suggested one thing: home run.

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— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 20, 2025

But the call on the field was foul. And to the Yankees’ disbelief, it stayed that way. The play was reviewed, but not confirmed. Umpires ruled the evidence inconclusive. Despite television angles strongly suggesting the ball was fair, Judge was denied his eighth home run of the season, one that traveled 383 feet at 111.7 mph and cleared a walkway into the trees beyond the outfield.

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Manager Aaron Boone, never one to hold back when it comes to defending his players, gave the umpires a piece of his mind. He started with the home plate umpire and then moved toward the third base umpire.

Aaron Judge gets rung up and Boone gets ejected pic.twitter.com/N4A7rvDfpY
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 20, 2025

Moments after Judge was called out on a borderline third strike, one that had just a 66.2% chance of being correctly called, according to TruMedia, Boone stormed onto the field. Judge visibly expressing some discontent with that call, and Aaron Boone entered the field, and went off.

Aaron Boone Was Not Happy

Boone didn’t hold back postgame either. After spending time in the replay room reviewing the footage himself, his frustration was only amplified. “The audacity of the call standing is remarkable,” Boone said. “It’s a home run. Didn’t go our way though.”

It also became Boone’s first ejection of the season and the 40th of his managerial career. Judge, meanwhile, kept his cool.

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“It was a fair ball,” he said. “But that’s why we’ve got replay. It’s not on the umpires; it’s tough when you’re in a situation like this in a Minor League park where the foul poles aren’t as high, so that’s why you have replay. They have every angle… I think everybody is kind of scratching their head, but [there’s] nothing I can do about it. They missed it, and I’ve just got to move on.”

He’s not wrong about the setup. George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ spring home now serving as the Rays’ temporary home in 2025, features foul poles that are just 30 feet tall, the league minimum and a far cry from the 90-foot monsters at Yankee Stadium. The difference however didn’t prove costly as the Yankees shutout the Rays, and won 3-0.

Aaron Boone

Aaron Judge

Yankees

Mohsin Baldiwala

mlb

Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.