Umpire Mike Estabrook spent the weekend ejecting the Milwaukee Brewers from their games against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Estabrook was behind the plate on Saturday for the team’s 7-2 loss to Philadelphia. He ejected Ryan Braun and manager Craig Counsell for arguing balls and strikes. Counsell was tossed after arguing on behalf of Lorenzo Cain, who struck out in an at-bat where he should have walked if Estabrook had called pitches properly.
Here's how Gameday saw the Lorenzo Cain at-bat that preceded Craig Counsell's ejection by plate ump Mike Estabrook. Cain took issue with both called strikes in red. pic.twitter.com/IUZQ1FiEQb
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) May 25, 2019
Craig Counsell goes face-to-face with umpire Mike Estabrook in slow motion moments after being ejected.
Brilliant TV from @fswisconsin. pic.twitter.com/9EfJwEuD8E
— Stephen Watson (@WISN_Watson) May 25, 2019
Braun was tossed for complaining about a strike call that led to a strikeout in the fourth inning of that game.
Ryan Braun has been ejected here in the 4th — he was not happy with this strike 2 call Arrieta got from home plate ump Mike Estabrook. Arrieta struck him out two pitches later. pic.twitter.com/n5KvygUHUd
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) May 25, 2019
As if those two ejections weren’t enough, Estabrook tossed third baseman Mike Moustakas during Sunday’s game. Moustakas said he was ejected for trying to talk with Estabrook about a check swing call.
#Brewers Mike Moustakas confirmed he was ejected for trying to talk with umpire Mike Estabrook about check-swing call. Said he just wanted to talk to Estabrook but Estabrook said he didn't want to talk about it, and when Moustakas tried to continue, he got tossed.
— Tom (@Haudricourt) May 26, 2019
According to Bloomberg’s stats, Estabrook was tied last year for the lowest percentage of correctly called pitches behind the home plate at 86 percent. Oddly, the Brewers actually benefited from a blown Estabrook call against the Phillies several years ago.
Making bad calls behind the plate is bad enough, but ejecting a player for trying to have a discussion with you about a call seems excessive.
