One banned substance check was probably enough to get Max Scherzer a little miffed. Two definitely bothered him.
Three? He was incensed.
The Washington Nationals ace was checked a trio of times by the umpires in his team's win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday. The third time, Scherzer unbuckled his pants and threatened to pull them down, then got into it with Philly manager Joe Girardi.
Good times.
Scherzer was no less heated after the 3-2 victory.
“I would have to be an absolute fool to actually use something tonight when everybody’s antenna is so far high they’d look for anything," Scherzer said, via The AP. “I have absolutely zero on me. I have nothing on me. Check whatever you want. I’ll take off all my clothes if you want to see me.”
Girardi insisted he wasn't trying to be disrespectful, but Scherzer kept taking his hat off, which was an unusual maneuver for him. Scherzer said it was, but just because he was sweaty.
"These are Manfred rules. I mean go ask him, what do you want to do with this?” Scherzer said.
He wasn't the only one miffed about what was happening. Sergio Romo, a reliever for the Oakland A's, actually took things a step further and began pulling down his pants upon getting a check from the umpires.
The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays were among the teams that didn't have any issues, but at the rate things are going, every team probably will go through some sort of process like this.
