Judge hears criticism after look, and he’s ‘not happy’

TORONTO — New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge doesn’t like being called a potential cheater after he glanced sideways before hitting a 462-foot homer in Toronto.

“I have a few choice words about it, but I’m just going to keep it confidential,” Judge said ahead of Tuesday night’s game.

On the other side of the diamond, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said his team spoke to Major League Baseball about the positioning of the New York base coaches.

“There are boxes in the field for a reason,” Schneider said.

The commissioner’s office said it was aware of Monday’s situation and would pay attention to it, the second-year Toronto principal said.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said his team has also been in contact with MLB.

“Our understanding is that there will be no kind of investigation as nothing that happened last night was against the rules,” Boone said.

The Houston Astros have been penalized for using banned electronic devices to steal signs en route to the 2017 World Series title. of a sign flashed too openly, or of individual tendencies and tells.

The judge said he was upset at the suggestion he benefited from the sign theft after the Toronto TV show caught his sideways glance during his eighth inning at bat against right-hander Jay Jackson.

“I’m not happy about it, but people can say whatever they want,” Judge said. “I have one more game to play, I have things to do. I told you what happened and everyone can make their own story out of it if they want to.”

Schneider said it’s up to his players to make sure they don’t inadvertently disclose locations or signposts.

“What’s right is right, I think, and if our guys are giving stuff, we have to be better at it,” Schneider said. “If things are being picked up by people that aren’t where they should be, that’s where I think the line should be drawn.”

Schneider was then asked if he was specifically concerned about the position of opposing base coaches.

“Every team is sort of on their toes,” Schneider said. “It’s easy to watch a runner on second when you hit, hard to watch from the dugout. Probably a little easier to watch a coach. There are boxes on the pitch for a reason. When it’s a 30 feet glaring where you’re not in that spot, you kind of pair two and two.”

After Monday’s game, the judge said he looked in his dugout to see which of his teammates was disrupting his at bat, yelling at plate umpire Clint Vondrak. Vondrak had just evicted Boone for pleading a low strike appeal to the judge.

Schneider said he didn’t think much of Judge’s explanation.

“I’m not in the business of buying post-game media,” Schneider said. “He’s a really accomplished hitter who won MVP last year. I know he means nothing but business and he wants to win. I just found it a little funny that he was worried about his dugout while he was in the batting box.”