Milwaukee Brewers reliever Abner Uribe sparked controversy on Tuesday for the crotch chop celebration he aimed at the St. Louis Cardinals’ dugout. After the game, however, Uribe was unwilling to apologize to his opponent for what he did.
Uribe apologized to his teammates, fans, and manager Pat Murphy following his controversial celebration in his team’s 6-0 victory over the Cardinals at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisc. He did not, however, apologize to the Cardinals. Instead, he explained that his celebration was in direct response to his feeling that Cardinals manager Oli Marmol was threatening to have his pitchers throw at Milwaukee hitters.
“I understand that it’s unacceptable to go out there and react like that,” Uribe told reporters through an interpreter. “At the same time, I don’t think it’s professional for their manager to be making signs towards our dugout saying that he’s going to be hitting guys. There was an event that occurred during the practice today, too, and I don’t think that was right, so I have my teammates’ back, always.”
Abner Uribe apologized to his teammates, Brewers coaches, executives and the fans, but he did not apologize to the Cardinals. Here’s his explanation for why that is. pic.twitter.com/LoVxqJabW4
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) May 27, 2026
Uribe’s celebration was not subtle, and he stopped and aimed it directly at the St. Louis dugout.
Abner Uribe hits the D-Generation X crotch chop after an inning-ending strikeout against the Cardinals. 😳 pic.twitter.com/ZPnV6atxyD
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) May 27, 2026
On Wednesday, it emerged that Marmol and the Cardinals believed that the Brewers were stealing their signs. Brewers players claimed Marmol gestured toward the Milwaukee dugout during Tuesday’s game and pointed to his ribs.
Marmol said the Cardinals were not happy with how blatant the Brewers were being and was trying to tell them not to get anyone hurt. He indicated that he felt the entire situation was being blown out of proportion.
“We felt like they were being pretty demonstrative about relaying from the dugout,” Marmol said, via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. “I looked over, I said ‘Hey, don’t do it. Be smart. You’re going to get somebody hurt. Like, what are we trying to do here?'”
The Brewers and Cardinals sit first and second in the NL Central, respectively, so there is something of a budding rivalry between them. In addition, Uribe has some history of his own, as he was at the center of a bench-clearing brawl in 2024.
