There must be something about Rogers Centre that makes umpires get carried away.
We saw earlier in the Major League Baseball playoffs how weird things can get for the men in blue, as there was a near-riot in Game 5 of the American League Division Series game between the Blue Jays and Texas Rangers. And while it wasn’t quite the same scene Monday night, Game 3 of the American League Championship Series featured an unwanted cameo from an umpire, too.
Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was ejected in between the seventh and eighth inning of the Jays’ eventual win over the Kansas City Royals. The shortstop was tossed for apparently arguing balls and strikes after he struck out in the bottom of the seventh. Jays catcher Russell Martin also went down looking at a questionable pitch, and the video makes it look like Tulowitzki might have had a few extra words for Hirschbeck as he headed out to his position to begin the eighth inning.
Eventually, Hirschbeck gave Tulo the heave-ho.
Tulowitzki gave his side of the story after the Jays’ 11-8 win.
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“I’m walking out to the field and (Hirschbeck) is looking at me the whole time, and I told him that wasn’t a strike and it was a quick trigger,” he told reporters after the game, per For The Win. “Obviously he was either holding onto something or something was going on. I don’t think what I did was gonna eject me out of the game. Obviously you don’t want to get ejected right there. Unfortunately I was. It would be interesting to see what he had to say.”
It certainly would be interesting to hear Hirschbeck’s side of the story. Because as long as Tulowitzki’s story is true — and he didn’t say any of the magic words — there’s not a whole lot of grounds for ejection here — especially in a playoff game that could mean the season for both clubs.
It’s not a great look for MLB umpires when players are being ejected from 100 feet away, but then again, isn’t that what we’ve come to expect from today’s all-too-often over-sensitive umpires?
Thumbnail photo via John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports Images
