Christian Walker gets ejected for clapping, a breakdown
What Happened
In a tied game in the bottom of the sixth inning, Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker steps up to the plate. After a questionable called strike, Walker expresses his displeasure, shaking his head and taking a long walk around the batter's box. Despite his frustration, he composes himself and gets back into the at-bat. However, Walker's anger resurfaces when he is called out on strikes. Visibly upset, he mutters "fucking trash, bro" and questions the umpire's calls. The tension continues into the bottom of the sixth, where Walker's teammate draws a walk. As the Diamondbacks' dugout reacts, Walker starts clapping sarcastically, which catches the attention of the umpires. Umpire Doug Eddings approaches Walker and ejects him, explaining that they had warned him earlier about his behavior. Walker is stunned, insisting that he was merely clapping and did not say anything. Eddings stands firm, stating that the umpires had given Walker a pass earlier but will not tolerate the sarcastic clapping. As Walker slowly makes his way to the dugout, he maintains his composure, keeping his hands behind his back in a non-threatening manner. He expresses his disbelief, saying, "I'm kind of speechless to be honest." According to reports, the umpires claim that in addition to the sarcastic clapping, Walker had also made comments towards them and thrown his equipment earlier in the game. The ejection of Christian Walker in this tightly contested game between the Diamondbacks and their opponent adds another chapter to the ongoing narrative of player-umpire tensions in Major League Baseball. While the specifics of the incident may be disputed, it serves as a reminder of the delicate balance between on-field passion and maintaining composure, as both players and officials navigate the high-stakes environment of professional baseball.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentWe had what seemed to be another really benign ejection in Major League Baseball and this
breakdown is brought to you by DraftKings. Christian Walker is up in the bottom of the
fifth with one out for the Diamondbacks in a tied game and that pitch called a strike in the zone,
not on the swing I believe, and he doesn't like it. He's shaking his head. He takes a long walk,
takes his one timeout, makes the umpire kind of sit in it for a little like, yeah,
you missed that one in my opinion. I didn't like it, so you think about it. I'm going to get over
it. It's an 0-2 count now. He doesn't like the count and then he gets rung up on that check
swing, says, yes, you did go. And before we keep moving, yeah, he probably went. It's a nice
attempt, but he doesn't like it and he doesn't like the pitch before and he clearly never cleared
his head off of that, so he's upset about it and he says, oh, oh, fucking trash, bro. Come on,
man.
What is that? Two? Oh, that one and then that. Jesus Christ. Not good. He's upset about it. So
then we move on to the bottom of the sixth inning. His teammates up. Still a tie game
and that check swing is called no. Of course he didn't go, which I think he didn't go. And then
that bunt attempt. Did he go? No. Hey, that away, Nick. You're out.
Here. And he's like, what? Go. Umpire says, go. And he says, what? He turns to the other up and
he says, I was clapping. What are you talking about? The ump turns. He says, do you hear what
he's doing? What do you mean? Of course he's out. He's like, no way. Is this real? And then the
umpire gives this face, which I love, like, be very careful what you're about to say.
This is a serious conversation. And he says,
you know, we let him get away with it earlier, but we're not going to stand for this now. And
he's going to slowly walk out there and be as peaceful as you can. He says,
he's still mad about the check swing. He's like, yeah, Walker probably is. And then he's got his
hands behind his back, non-threatening pose. I'm not here to cause trouble. I was never here to
cause trouble. You ejected me for clapping. Now, if anyone's out there saying, and it was
innocent clapping, even he admits like, no, uh, let's be honest about it. It was an intentful
clapping.
But I didn't say anything. So I thought that was my way of not getting tossed. Yeah. I'm kind of
speechless to be honest. And if you want the other side of the story, you go to the athletic where
Kenny Rosenthal had it. And he said, according to the umps, in addition to gesturing while making
comments toward both Marquez and de Jesus, the umpires, he also yelled while he was going down
the steps, he threw his equipment. And then when he came out to play the field, he was still talking
about it. And at that point, the,
the second base umpire, Doug Eddings gave them basically a warning and raised the matter with
the dining backs and said, he better stop. And then they heard that nasty clapping continue.
And what were they meant to do? Just let him continue to sarcastically clap. How could they,
what do you think too many sarcastic claps? If they say, Hey, you can't sarcastic clap anymore.
You're not allowed to sarcastic clap anymore. You guys agree. Or do you think you're allowed
to sarcastic clap to voice?
Your displeasure. I think I'm in fan of a tasteful claps as long as you're not saying anything,
but I don't know what he said when he was on the field in between innings to warrant the warning
either way, ridiculous scene and a funny video and gif that comes out of it. And thank you to
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