Michigan Wolverines freshman designated hitter Jimmy Obertop was ejected in an egregious case of an overreaction by an umpire during Friday night's MLB4 Collegiate Baseball Tournament game against Vanderbilt.
It happened in the top of the ninth inning with one out and Michigan holding a 4-3 lead. After taking a called strike two, Obertop put the tip of his bat down on the ground and swiped it back before stepping away from home plate to get ready for the next pitch. Apparently the home plate umpire misinterpreted the dirt swipe and felt Obertop was showing him up, and the umpire immediately ejected him.
this kid really got tossed in the 9th inning for ...uh, swiping the dirt with his bat after a called strike? pic.twitter.com/n1wRlPp2zt— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) February 15, 2020
Naturally, Obertop was stunned. Michigan manager Erik Bakich rightfully argued in defense of his player, but to no avail.
That's absolutely ridiculous for the home plate umpire to have such a quick trigger, especially given the game situation. Hopefully the NCAA reviews this and suspends the umpire accordingly. No excuse for this garbage.
Michigan held on for the 4-3 victory in a small measure of revenge from last year's College World Series final. Michigan plays Cal Poly on Saturday for the MLB4 tournament championship. Hopefully Obertop gets a chance to finish his at-bat next time.
[12up]
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
