Umpire Doug Eddings went on a ridiculous power trip during Friday’s game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies.
Eddings was the home plate umpire in Friday’s game at Coors Field in Denver, Co., and he took over the game in the sixth inning. The umpire did not like the way Cardinals pitcher Hancel Rincon was wearing his hat during his MLB debut, and actually held up the game to get Rincon to straighten it.
Cardinals manager Oli Marmol had words with Eddings about that situation during a subsequent pitching change. Eddings responded by giving the Cardinals a pitch timer violation and ejecting Marmol. Later in the inning, Eddings blew a call at home plate that allowed the Rockies to take the lead, with the Cardinals out of challenges and unable to ask for a review.
Umpire Doug Eddings went on a power trip during the bottom of the 6th in the Cardinals Rockies game.
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) September 5, 2026
First, he demanded that pitcher Hancel Rincon (in his MLB debut) straighten his hat since no one will wear a hat like that on "his field".
When manager Oli Marmol went to talk… pic.twitter.com/ei4rCAalxq
After the game, Marmol said Eddings had told Rincon that the pitcher would not be allowed to wear his hat tilted on “my field.”
“Quite honestly, I thought it was pretty embarrassing on his end,” Marmol said of Eddings. “We have a kid making his debut and between an at-bat he tells him he needs to fix his hat, and ‘the kid’s not going to wear his hat like that on my field.’ Last I checked, this was Coors Field, so I took issue with it. The pitch violation while I’m out there having a discussion, that’s also stupid, in my opinion.
“At the end of the day, I thought they handled it poorly, and I’d like an explanation at some point.”
"[Eddings] tells him he needs to fix his hat and 'the kid's not gonna wear his hat like that on my field.'"
— bill durham (@BDurhamSports) September 5, 2026
"Last I checked this was Coors Field"#stlcards pic.twitter.com/XJ3cqywxFE
Rincon wears his hat tilted to the side and is hardly the first player to do so. Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm also does it, and longtime reliever Fernando Rodney was famous for the look. While some may not like it and think it looks unprofessional, it does not in any way constitute a uniform violation.
Eddings’ inning was so bad that some were convinced he blew the call at home plate intentionally to hurt the Cardinals. The team had challenged earlier in the inning, and it certainly seemed that Eddings was particularly pleased to announce the call in question was confirmed.
The Rockies broadcast catches on to Doug Eddings’ unprofessional attitude toward the Cardinals earlier in the game: “shame on you for challenging.” #stlcards pic.twitter.com/tW46qKrlR6
— Scott Singer (@IamScottSinger1) September 5, 2026
MLB legend Chipper Jones once labeled Eddings one of the “most confrontational” umpires in MLB, and this would seem to back his point.
Ultimately, despite the umpiring, the Cardinals came back with three runs in the ninth inning to lock down a 7-6 victory.
