It didn't take long for Weird Baseball to make an appearance in the 2023 MLB season.
The Yankees and Guardians have, seemingly, very rarely had normal meetings and their rubber match on Wednesday continued the trend.
In the first inning, New York manager Aaron Boone got the boot after a very bizarre replay situation unfolded. Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks caught a sinking fly ball for the seeming third out of the inning, but replay showed that Hicks actually trapped the ball.
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While replay review rules dictate that a manager must issue his challenge within 15 seconds of the call being made, Guardians manager Terry Francona didn't seem to issue a replay challenge. Instead, the umpiring crew consulted in the middle of the field after a replay had shown on the big video screen at Progressive Field, leading to Francona asking for a review well outside that time limit and Boone's subsequent blowup:
Boone got his money's worth with the ejection, arguing with the umpires several times before finally departing the game.
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Later in the game, umpire Larry Vanover got nailed in the face by a Guardians relay throw, allowing two Yankee runs to score.
Vanover would be removed from the game after the play, but seemed to be OK after being checked on by the Guardians trainer.
The first Yankees-Guardians series of the season is a rematch of their 2022 ALDS meeting, which the Yankees took in five games. There was plenty of weird stuff in that series, too, highlighted by the Josh Naylor "rock the baby" celebration.
Next up: Return of the Midges.