By his own admission, Yankees manager Aaron Boone earned Monday's ejection

CHICAGO – Aaron Boone earned his 32nd career ejection as Yankees manager Monday night, and by his own admission he more than earned this one.

On occasion, Boone hasn’t always felt that has been the case.  

After each of those, Boone almost always has gotten more than his money’s worth, that oft-used phrase referencing the fine that is levied with any ejection.

Still, for a variety of reasons Monday’s may well have stood out above the rest – even above Boone’s infamous “Savages in the box” rant directed at Brennan Miller in 2019 that quickly went viral (Miller, a minor league call-up umpire then, was added to the full-time staff before this season).

“We love it as a team,” Aaron Judge said after Boone’s ejection by Miller July 19, 2019, using a line the outfielder has employed several times since after seeing his manager tossed. “That shows that he’s in the trenches with us, he’s out there fighting with us, he’s living and dying on every single pitch and he has our back.”

But Monday’s ejection, and ensuing on-field theatrics by Boone directed at veteran umpire Laz Diaz – which included the sixth-year manager cartoonishly mocking Diaz’s called third strike mechanic that even got Red Sox manager Alex Cora, among some other managers, to contact Boone Tuesday morning – stood out because it was decidedly from the old school.

Diaz, a former Marine, is generally liked by players and coaches across the sport (despite his reputation among fans). He gave it back to Boone verbally as good as he was getting it.

Umpires returning fire at irate managers with equal vigor is quite a sight.  It is not seen nearly as often as it was years ago when the two parties would volley insults. Once in a while, that involved both turning their caps around, or outright removing them, in order to literally go nose-to-nose (Google Earl Weaver and Ken Kaiser, or Don Zimmer and Jerry Crawford).

Boone, who led the American League in ejections last season with nine and has been thrown out an AL-leading six times this season, referenced as much after the game in discussing the length of time he spent on the field, saying, “Laz did his part in keeping me out there.”

Boone spoke to Michael Hill, MLB's vice president of on-field operations, on Tuesday but declined to elaborate. He was noticeably calmer in discussing the incident before  the game against the White Sox, smiling often.

“Laz was definitely giving it back to me last night,” Boone said. “Hopefully, it’s water under the bridge, part of the game, and you move on.”

Of the argument and all that it entailed, Boone mentioned his daughter, Bella: “I don’t like doing that. I think I embarrassed Bella Boone a little bit, so I don’t like that. But I also felt like I needed to fight for what I thought was happening in that game.”

What happened was an erratic strike zone called by Diaz throughout the 5-1 victory by the White Sox, who it should be pointed out weren’t thrilled with the zone either.

Boone let out a laugh when asked about any messages he might have received from rival managers.  

“I’ve heard from quite a few,” he said without elaborating. “A lot of funny stuff mostly.”

Pretty much all of them related to Boone, who is known as a somewhat of an expert mimicker when it comes to various player’s batting stances, mimicking Diaz’s pull-back called third strike mechanic.

“I don’t know,” Boone said, laughing again. “All I know is Laz was telling me, ‘Go.’ I feel like in a way he egged me on, ‘Go make a fool of yourself.’ I guess I obliged.”