Umpire Mike Everitt ejected four Detroit Tigers from Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels, including two players, the hitting coach and the manager.
The Detroit Tigers lost to the Angels on Saturday, but the fireworks that happened earlier in the evening largely overshadowed the game’s results. Home plate umpire Mike Everitt had a rough night behind the dish, ejecting four Tigers before the game was over.
In the third inning, Victor Martinez started the ejections after arguing with a first-pitch strike call. According to Detroit’s pitch tracker, it was a borderline pitch on the corner of the strike zone. Players are not permitted to argue balls and strikes at all, but Everitt let Martinez have his say at first. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Martinez refused to get back in the box and continued to argue.
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It appeared that Everitt gave Martinez every opportunity to settle down, but eventually, he tossed the Tigers’ DH.
Later, Everitt ejected manager Brad Ausmus and hitting coach Wally Joyner in the fifth inning. The pair came out to argue a called strike three on second baseman Ian Kinsler. The Tigers were not necessarily upset with the location of the pitches, but they felt that their pitchers were not getting the same strike zone as the Angels’ pitching staff.
Just one inning later, J.D. Martinez joined his coaches in the clubhouse. Following a called third strike, he turned to Everitt to let him know how he felt about the call. The home plate umpire was in no mood for another argument and swiftly ejected him.
Tigers beat reporter Evan Woodbery tweeted that J.D. Martinez alleged that the conversation was a brief one:
Dialogue between J.D. Martinez and umpire Mike Everitt, as told by J.D. Martinez (using his exact words): pic.twitter.com/kKFhtuVhtn
— Evan Woodbery (@evanwoodbery) August 28, 2016
While Everitt may have been quick to toss the younger Martinez, the Tigers set the stage by repeatedly arguing balls and strikes. The rule against arguing with the home plate umpire’s calls is not new, and there are plenty of umps who would have had a shorter leash on Victor Martinez in the third inning.
If you haven’t seen it for yourself, here’s the video:
This was far from an “ump show”. After Martinez began to argue with Everitt, the umpire tried to deescalate the situation. Everitt kept his mask on throughout the conversation, and calmly gestured for Martinez to stop arguing and continue the at-bat.
The Tigers slugger had plenty of opportunity to stay in the game. Technically, umpires are within their right to throw a player out if he argues ball and strike calls at all. Everitt gave Martinez a full 30 seconds to move on before issuing the ejection. One of the umpires’ jobs is to keep the game moving, and if the players won’t cooperate, that’s their own fault.
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Hopefully for the Detroit Tigers, cooler heads will prevail for the remainder of the season. Heading into play on Sunday, Detroit is one game back in the Wild Card contest and 4.5 games back in the AL Central race. Their best players can’t afford to be ejected in key games if the Tigers hope to catch the Indians or the Orioles this September.