Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon was ejected from Tuesday night’s loss to the Milwaukee Brewers for arguing a called third strike, and he found a unique way of continuing to state his case after the game was over.
Rendon was called out on strikes by home plate umpire CB Bucknor with the game tied 0-0 in the top of the seventh. There were runners on first and second with two out, and the count was 0-2. Rendon took a pitch that he felt was off the plate, and he tapped the ground next to the plate to demonstrate where he believed it missed. That led to an immediate ejection from Bucknor.
Rated R for language (we assume). pic.twitter.com/zMfVzPSAre
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 8, 2019
Umpires reserve the right to automatically eject players for arguing balls and strikes, and doing so with a physical demonstration is almost always going to lead to that outcome. While Rendon admitted after the game that he should not have gotten himself ejected in such a tight contest, that didn’t stop him from trolling Bucknor by printing out photos that showed the pitch was off the plate.
Anthony Rendon ends his postgame press conference by taping to his locker two photos from the last pitch of his final at-bat, the pitcher’s view and the umpire’s view. CB Bucknor called it a strike and ejected Rendon. Both photos show the ball outside.
— Sam Fortier (@Sam4TR) May 8, 2019
Rendon on what he said to Bucknor: "I told him he was wrong, maybe a couple other words. I know better in that situation not to get tossed, but he definitely got the best of me, so…" Rendon trailed off. "Happens." https://t.co/JNCWDEvokn
— Sam Fortier (@Sam4TR) May 8, 2019
Depending on which technology you use, a case can be made for either Rendon or Bucknor. This shows that the pitch missed outside, but not by much:
The pitch low and away which Anthony Rendon argued and turned into his third career ejection. pic.twitter.com/uUPvO2njAg
— Sam Fortier (@Sam4TR) May 8, 2019
Bucknor has created a name for himself by making some brutal calls over the years, but that pitch seemed too close for Rendon to take in that situation. Bucknor is not the only umpire who would have called it a strike.
