I defended Aaron Judge … this might be a bit tough.
During Tuesday night’s game between the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays, Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German ended up being ejected after an umpire caught him using a foreign substance.
Through three innings, German was perfect on the stat sheet, however, the entire umpiring crew approached him as he was heading back to the mound for the bottom of the fourth, and they ended up finding a sticky substance when they checked his hands and glove.
Clearly not liking what they found, the umpires ejected German from the game.
Back in April when German started on Jackie Robinson Day against the Minnesota Twins, German was checked for and caught with foreign substances then as well, however, he was given just a warning at the time and the umpiring crew even let him wash his hands. As you can imagine, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was absolutely livid, and this because of MLB’s own rule book stating that warnings are not allowed.
Well, that exact same umpiring crew was working Monday night, and this time, they sent German packing.
Yankees pitcher Domingo German has been thrown out of the game after a substance check
(via @Sportsnet)pic.twitter.com/5B2mMZydg2
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 17, 2023
This incident comes just a day after Sportsnet announcers Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez implied that Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was cheating when he side-eyed over at his own dugout.
“You don’t wanna go throwing allegations around without knowing but…”
Aaron Judge homers as the Toronto broadcast says he’s being suspicious pic.twitter.com/XWzoNrkvB4
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 16, 2023
Judge later explained that he was trying to see which of his teammates were chirping at the umpires, saying he wasn’t a fan of that when they were up 6-0 and wanted to know who to tell to stop when he got back to the dugout.
Aaron Judge says he was looking toward the Yankees dugout because he didn’t like how much his teammates were chirping the umpire with a 6-0 lead
“I said a couple things to some guys in the dugout and especially after the game. Hopefully it won’t happen again.” pic.twitter.com/rMJ05Ilp0r
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 16, 2023
Aaron Judge also had this to say before Tuesday’s game:
Aaron Judge said that he has some “choice words about” about the Blue Jays broadcasters insinuating that he was cheating. He declined to share them. “I’m not happy about it, but people can say what they want. I’ve still got a game to play. I’ve got things to do.”
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) May 16, 2023
Like I said to start this blog out, I’m all for defending Aaron Judge, that’s my boy. But I can’t get down with defending Domingo German (and I’m always defending the pinstripes when they get attacked).
Not only did he get caught cheating once, but he got caught twice … and is now about to get suspended.
I personally don’t mind players having a bit more leverage (for entertainment purposes as a sports fan), heck, I’m the same guy who supports legal steroid use in sports, but it’s still illegal at the end of the day, and when it’s against the rules … well … it’s against the rules. Just don’t do it, it’s that simple. And now it’s just a horrible look from a public relations standpoint. Both for German and the entire Yankees franchise, especially after the whole Judge situation. (RELATED: Aaron Judge Blasts Home Run Right In The Middle Of Announcers Implying He’s Cheating)
Let’s try to do better, Domingo — at least don’t get caught. I mean, seriously, twice?
Terrible, just terrible.