Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was ejected from Tuesday night's game in San Diego for showing his bare foot to an umpire to argue a fair ball call.
It happened in the top of the ninth inning with two outs and a runner on second as the game was tied at 3-3. On the 1-1 pitch, Altuve hit a grounder to third base that bounced off his foot in the batter's box, but home plate umpire Brennan Miller called a fair ball. Since Altuve did not run out of the box, third baseman Manny Machado tossed the ball to first baseman Donovan Solano for the easy third out to end the inning.
Altuve at first calmly pleaded his case, with Astros manager Joe Espada stepping in to argue on his behalf, likely wondering why Miller did not ask from help from the other umpires in making the call. However, to further make his point, Altuve took off his cleat and sock, limped over to Miller and pointed at the toe on his bare foot that he hit the ball off of. Miller immediately ejected Altuve.
Jose Altuve says he fouled a ball off his foot while the home plate ump says he didn’t.
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 18, 2024
Altuve showed him his bare foot & got ejected @StoolBaseball
pic.twitter.com/9tmWpiiUqK
Espada did his best to protect Altuve, but he probably didn't expect him to pull that stunt. You certainly don't see this every day.
MLB players are typically ejected for arguing for yelling and screaming at an umpire, but not for exposing his bare foot. We understand Altuve being frustrated based on the missed call, but he may have took things too far here, so we can't blame Miller for tossing him.
In the end, the Astros won the game 4-3 in the 10th inning, so the Astros managed to bail out Altuve. The Astros hold a 5-game lead in the American League West with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season.
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.
