NEWSLETTER
If you had the stomach for today’s game, you may have noticed an odd ejection in the 4th inning, as Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde was tossed.
It happened during a Willson Contreras at bat, and Contreras offered an explanation after the game:
This is what Willson Contreras said when asked about what happened when he was at the plate and bench coach Brandon Hyde got tossed. Apparently the ump wasn't pleased with Willson for not thanking him when he granted him timeout… pic.twitter.com/5qu8eKlgQx
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) June 24, 2018
The umpire started jawing at Contreras … because he didn’t say thank you for granting a timeout? Seriously? And Hyde got booted for sticking up for Contreras?
And it might be even worse than that, as Contreras added that home plate umpire Greg Gibson, “Said something to me that I didn’t think he needed to say. I’m here because I’ve earned my spot here, and I just didn’t appreciate what he said …. Yeah, it was something that I felt was directed to me personally. I’m not going to repeat what he said because I’m trying to be professional. But he knows what he said to me.” (Tribune)
We can only guess at what the umpire may have said, but given that it followed Contreras apparently not thanking the ump for a freaking timeout, and given what Contreras said, it’s not hard to imagine that the word “respect” was in there somewhere.
I hope we hear more about this, including from MLB. I’d like to know exactly what was said, whether Contreras’s account is accurate, and, if so, whether MLB supports its umpires requiring a “thank you” for doing their jobs. And does Gibson ask all players for a thank you, or just the ones he decides have to show a little more gratitude? And did the fact that this crew included Jordan Baker, the umpire who ejected Contreras (together with John Lackey) late last year – the facemask-tossing incident – have anything to do with Gibson’s predisposition?
