Milwaukee Brewers star Christian Yelich was ejected from Saturday night’s game after confronting an umpire for a controversial call.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Yelich hit a grounder to the infield which was scooped up by Reds pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez. Gutierrez’s throw to first was off target, though, and sailed past the first baseman. Yelich was obviously safe at first.
Yelich, though, stepped off the base path for a split second while he appeared to consider running to second because of the errant throw. He chose not to when he saw Reds second baseman Jonathan India scoop up the ball, which hit off the first-base side foul wall. India then tagged Yelich, and the umpire called him out.
Yelich immediately lost control from the moment the call was made. He got in the umpire’s face, had a few choice words and then had to be restrained by his own team. He was ejected, as a result. Take a look.
Christian Yelich is ejected. pic.twitter.com/krwlEqtOaH
— Welcome to the Ump Show (@umpjob) July 11, 2021
Was it a tough call? Yes. Was it the wrong call? By definition of the rule, probably not.
Christian Yelich clearly made a move toward second when he thought he may have a chance at stealing a base. When he realized Jonathan India had the ball, though, he changed his mind and simply stayed put.
You could also use Yelich’s foot placement as further evidence that it was probably the right call. He was on the right side of the base path for the majority of his run, but ended up on the left side after he briefly considered heading to second. That, combined with Yelich’s slight flinch, is why he was called out.
Still, it was a bit ticky-tacky from the ump to make such a controversial call.
The post Watch: Christian Yelich Ejected Following Controversial Ruling appeared first on The Spun.
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