Joey Votto, his manager, and a fan get ejected in the 1st, a breakdown

Jun 21, 2021 2.2M views 6:17

What Happened

On June 20, 2021, the Reds were in San Diego and got off to a hot start, plating a run before Joey Votto even stepped in. With a runner in scoring position and a 1-2 count, Votto half-swung at a checked-swing call. The home plate ump, Jim Reynolds' crew, took offense to Votto chirping toward third base, and the whole thing snowballed into a screaming match. Votto got tossed in the first, a heckling fan got tossed too, and then several minutes later crew chief Jim Reynolds went back and ejected manager David Bell for the earlier outburst.

Why This Matters

Check-swing arguments are some of the easiest ways for a hitter to get run, because there's no replay help and the umpires guard the call closely. What makes this one stand out is the after-the-fact ejection of David Bell. Reynolds didn't toss Bell in the moment. He came back minutes later and decided the manager had to go, which Bell rightly found absurd. Delayed ejections like that are rare and they look more like image control than rule enforcement. Votto, for his part, owned it. He'd later joke he deserved the boot, then made up for it by signing a ball for a young fan named Abigail who was crying in her Votto shirt at her first MLB game, and inviting her back the next day. The Reds got swept in the series, so the fire didn't translate to wins.

At 2.2M views this one cracks the top 5.7% of Jomboy's 1,583 breakdowns, proof that a triple ejection in the first inning travels.

Key Moments

Who / What Is Involved

Players: Joey Votto. Teams: Reds.

Key Terms Mentioned

Full Transcript

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the reds were in san diego playing the

padres first

batter of the game gets a single next

batter

shoots it down the line sending the