Joe Girardi was ejected in the ninth inning Thursday as soon as he confronted the plate umpire, Dan Iassogna, about balls and strikes. But Girardi, the Yankees’ manager, was in no hurry to leave the field. He tried a little performance art before retreating.
Girardi was upset at a called third strike on his cleanup hitter, Brian McCann. The pitch seemed outside to Girardi, so he strode away from Iassogna and dug his spikes into the dirt, scratching a line parallel to the plate and well out of the strike zone. Girardi yelled a little more, just for theatrical flair, and then left, leaving Yankee Stadium energized.