New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has been suspended one game for his confrontation with umpire Nic Lentz during Friday's game against the Detroit Tigers, according to Joe Trezza of MLB.com.
Boone came out to argue a strike thrown by Detroit pitcher Jordan Zimmerman, and his baseball cap barely made contact with Lentz. Per Trezza, MLB chief operating officer Joe Torre determined that Boone's slight contact "violated the league's policy," and the decision was made to give him a one-game suspension.
Per Trezza, bench coach Josh Bard will manage the Yankees on Sunday in place of Boone, whose ejection Friday marked the third of his career. Bard played in the majors from 2002-2011 as a catcher and was hired to join Boone's stuff for this season, after two years with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"I accept it. Obviously, I got a little too close for comfort there, so that's part of the deal, Boone said, per Trezza. "I was arguing, I got kicked out of the game...Unfortunately, I got a little too close, and I do regret that".
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The Yankees enter play on Sunday with an 86-50 record, and they seem like a lock to host the AL Wild Card game. New York will easily surpass the 91 wins they reached last season with manager Joe Girardi, who wasn't brought back despite leading his team to within one victory of the World Series.
Boone was brought in to help the Yankees reach that next level, and though they certainly won't be catching the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox, this unit has all the makings to be a World Series contender. It's been an excellent first year as manager for Boone, and he knows what must be done to avoid further trouble.
"Next time I'll flip the cap around backwards and let it rip," Boone said. "Hopefully I'll be better, learning from this, and learn to control my emotions in a better way."