Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton was ejected for arguing with the home plate umpire after some terrible strike calls during Saturday's game against the visiting New York Mets.
It happened in the bottom of the seventh inning as pinch hitter Jack Suwinski was at the plate with two outs and the bases loaded as the Pirates were down 5-2. Mets reliever Reed Garrett threw a 1-0 pitch low that home plate umpire John Tumpane called a strike. Then, when Garrett threw another low pitch on 3-1, Suwinski was so convinced it was ball four that he was about to toss his bat when Tumpane called strike two. The calls were so bad that television announcers were apoplectic, as ball four would have walked in a run for the Pirates.
At that point, Shelton lost his mind in the dugout and began shouting at Tumpane, leading Tumpane to eject him. Shelton figured he would get his money's worth, so he came out to home plate and let loose on Tumpane.
This is ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/JOhSuB4Tp9
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 6, 2024
We don't blame Shelton for his reaction, as these appeared to be terrible calls. For what it's worth, it didn't last too long and he went back to the dugout pretty quickly. Not sure if he got in any good one-liners like some managers have.
On the next pitch, Suwinski swung and missed, striking out to end the inning and the best chance that the Pirates had for a comeback rally. The Mets won the game 5-2.
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.
