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Skip Schumaker just turned in the classiest manager ejection of the MLB season
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- Skip Schumaker just turned in the classiest manager ejection of the MLB season
The Texas Rangers are right in the thick of a playoff chance as they could capture the American League West or a wild card spot with some stellar play down the stretch. That makes every game pivotal and the stakes high. They are now looking up at the division-leading Houston Astros after being swept over the weekend, and frustrations boiled over late Sunday to create a very memorable managerial moment.
After home plate umpire Todd Tichenor rung up Rangers' Nicky Diaz on a pitch that appeared to be below the strike zone to end the seventh inning, Texas manager Skip Schumaker came out to share a piece of his mind. His train of thought was interrupted by the traditional Sunday playing of "God Bless America," which caused both he and Tichenor to pause discussion and observe the moment.
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As soon the song concluded, the argument was back on . It would continue until Schumaker was ejected from the game and forced to observe the eventual 7-3 loss from the clubhouse.
The Rangers, of course, could have used one of their challenges to rectify the bad call but had none remaining after going 0-for-2 on reviews earlier in the game.
Baseball is just the best because something truly wild like this can happen, causing people to say they've never seen anything like it. Then someone starts poking around or unearths a long-buried memory to show that actually, there is some precedent for whatever oddity just occurred.
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None other than Jim Leyland was involved in the exact same thing back in 2006. Leyland, one of the most prolific arguers the diamond has ever seen, took umbrage with the shake his Detroit Tigers were getting at Yankee Stadium and put on a show after pausing to honor America.
