Gardner held the Dodgers without a hit for nine innings before he and Jeff Fassero surrendered three hits in the 10th inning. The game was once considered an official no-hitter prior to rule clarification in 1991, and the MLB no longer recognizes games of nine hitless innings as no-hitters if hits are given up in extra innings. On July 24, 2004, he was the plate umpire in the famous game between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox that involved a brawl initiated by Jason Varitek's punch of Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez which resulted in both players getting ejected by Froemming. On June 28, 2007, Froemming was at first base when Toronto Blue Jay Frank Thomas hit his 500th career home run off Minnesota Twins pitcher Carlos Silva. Later in the game, Thomas was ejected by plate umpire Mark Wegner for arguing balls and strikes, with Toronto manager John Gibbons also getting thrown out. Controversy A commanding presence on the field who was fined by National League and Major League Baseball on more than one occasion for his public comments and behavior, Froemming has acknowledged that "the one moment I would take back if I could" was in January 2003 when he referred to an umpire administrator as a "stupid Jew bitch" during a dispute over a relatively minor conflict over travel arrangements to Japan; the comment was made at the end of a voicemail message, apparently after Froemming thought the call had ended. He was given a 10-day suspension without pay for the incident, which he accepted after making a public apology. Froemming was also fined in 1996 for going into the Los Angeles Dodgers' clubhouse before a game in New York against the Mets to get Mike Piazza's autograph. Froemming told Piazza that catcher Johnny Bench refused to sign baseballs for him once and proceeded to go 0 for 4 that day with three strikeouts. New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner blamed Froemming for not delaying Game 2 of the 2007 American League Division Series between the Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, in which an infestation of Lake Erie gnats swarmed around Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain, who afterward lost a 1–0 lead in the 8th inning. Froemming was calling balls and strikes on September 2, 1972, when Cubs pitcher Milt Pappas had a perfect game with two outs and a 1–2 count in the ninth inning