Maybe umpire Marvin Hudson thought Bryce Harper’s recent hot streak at the plate was just too unfair.
That’s the only reason we can think of for why Hudson inexplicably tossed the Washington Nationals outfielder in Wednesday’s matchup with the New York Yankees.
It all started when Harper took slight offense to a low strike call during his third inning at-bat. It ended seconds later with his sudden ejection.
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Between those events, Nationals manager Matt Williams barked from the dugout about Hudson’s call, causing the ump to fire some words back at him. Harper stepped out of the box to let them sort it out, but Hudson insisted he step back in. When Harper did as instructed, he was tossed.
After the game, Harper didn’t hide his feelings about Hudson’s quick trigger.
“I don’t think 40,000 people came to watch him ump tonight. Plain and simple,” Harper said, via The Associated Press. “…Â I don’t think I really did anything bad to get tossed. But maybe he just had a bad morning. Maybe he didn’t get his coffee.”
Harper clearly wasn’t happy with Hudson’s call, but the only logical explanation for his ejection is that Hudson ran him for stepping out of the box, which violates MLB’s new pace of play rules.
After the game, however, Hudson insisted that wasn’t the reason.
“Had nothing to do with the box,” he told a pool reporter. “He didn’t like the pitch, and I let him have his say, going and coming.
“The dugout didn’t like it, and one thing led to another and I had to run him. I had to eject him.”
Despite Hudson’s best efforts to sabotage them, the Nationals went on to win 3-2.
Thumbnail photo via Alex Brandon/Associated Press
