Ejections 044-45 - Umpire Jim Reynolds Ejects Tyler Duffey For Throwing at Yermin Mercedes in MIN

Crew Chief Reynolds also ejected Minnesota's manager Rocco Baldelli for arguing Duffey's ejection.

[tilinfinity]

This ‘unwritten rule’ thing is one of the worst things going in sports right now. You’re throwing at a batter because YOUR team sucked? Lol

[DrewC]

If you don’t want a guy to hit a HR on a 3-0 count while winning by 10+, DON’T BE IN A 3-0 COUNT WHILE DOWN 10+!

[relentlesspodofficial]

Imagine crying because you used a position player to pitch and guys are hitting yokes. Fuck the score. Never let up

[robertdwyer]

Get rid of your Arcadian unwritten rules if you don't want him swinging at 3-0 then get a real pitcher in there and strike him out quit acting like babies

[njatgu]

If professional players/teams are going to cry when someone hits a home run on a 3-0 fastball then maybe they should go back to little league

[thomasnaeger]

Someone want to pass a note to the guys with the mics that conferences on intent have been going on for two years now....

[toadwiiremotewithwiimotion]

With him swinging 3-0 off a position player in a blowout and Austidillo yelling at the White Sox after the game, you knew something was gonna happen. This is good umpiring

[ballison]

If it’s an unwritten rule, it’s not a rule. He’s not the first hitter to knock one out on a 3-0 count. The point of the game is to have a higher score than the other team.

[MercenaryJedi]

You don't swing because there's no point risking hurting your stats when you've already won. But when you know you can whack that ball....
Losing badly is no excuse to stop trying. Teams get so whiny about their own incompetence...

[chris-yuct]

Lol not a huge fan of swinging 3-0 up big but who cares about the rules when you use a position player to pitch

[PulpChristian]

The Unwritten rules in baseball makes the sport more antiquated than it already is.

[rizdalegend]

If your going to throw softballs, im going to hit it

[bdogg]

Isn't that the procedure this season? If the home plate umpire feels that the pitcher was intentionally trying to hit the batter, they are supposed to meet as a crew...
So I don't know what planet these dumb broadcasters are on, but catch up with the rules and come back to earth.

[sbflsrfrskdvr]

I understand the unwritten rules but if you have no more respect for the game than to throw a 47 mph pitch you deserve to have it hit to the moon no matter the count or score . This isn’t little league. If you don’t want them to score then stop them from scoring.

[tedgey]

Estudillo was making a circus out of the game with that goofy pitch. This is major league baseball. I don't care what the situation is if you throw a "pitch" that looks like that you deserve to have it jacked into the seats

[JoseRodriguez-fsvu]

Regarding last night's Sox, Twins game. In the top of the 7th inning, Twins relief pitcher Tyler Duffey threw a fastball behind Sox DH Yermin Mercedes. The pitch was in retaliation for Mercedes' at bat in the Sox half of the ninth inning, the night before, when he hit a 3-0 count for a home run against Willians Austudillo, a Twins position player who was brought in with the Sox Leading the game 15-4. Sox manager, Tony LaRussa, immediately apologized to the Twins (why?), saying Mercedes didn't understand baseball's "unwritten rule" about swinging at a 3-0 pitch with his team so far ahead in the game.

I immediately have to question LaRussa's mental capacity in this situation. The game is professional baseball. Is Tony trying to say that if you have an 11 run lead, you immediately stop playing? Social media was abuzz with LaRussa's response to the Yerminator not only taking a swing, but launching Austudillo's 34 mph pitch into the Minnesota night sky. The random concensus was "so what"? Regardless of whether it's a position player taking the mound, or the Next Roger Clemons, a hitter's job is to get on base in any way he can?

When you stop playing because the opposing team might get its collective feelings hurt, you're no longer playing Major League Baseball. You're playing Babe Ruth League Baseball. Why even keep score? Everyone should get a participation prize, just for showing up.

LaRussa further ruffled my feathers by commenting that he understood Why Twins manager Rocco Baldelli had Duffey throw at his player. REALLY? How does defending another team throwing at your player make things better? What if, instead of throwing behind Yermin, the ball would've beaned him I'm the head, ending his stellar rookie season or even the rest of his baseball career?

I think Tony LaRussa just crossed that line of putting his team first and needs to be shown the door Out of Guaranteed Rate Field.

[maco]

He is lucky Mercedes did not charge. That would be scary

[l_Live_In_Oregon]

Oh the joy of unwritten rules. 3-0 pitch gently tossed up? You bet I will hit it.

[anthonypang]

I think when you deliberately hit a batter, pitcher, management all need to be banned if its under orders

They have no respect for the game doing that

[ILOVEUMPS]

If you are going to lob a pitch that is that easy to hit, you deserve to have a HR hit off of you. Don't like taking a beating, then you need to step up your game.