Pitcher gets ejected for tossing his belt to the ump, a breakdown
What Happened
Pitcher Lance Lynn of the Chicago White Sox finds himself in a jam in the top of the third inning, with the bases loaded and no outs. Despite the pressure, the veteran right-hander works his way out of the situation, striking out the next three batters with a combination of fastballs and sinkers. As Lynn walks off the field, the home plate umpire approaches him for a routine check of his glove, hat, and belt, part of baseball's crackdown on foreign substances. Lynn complies, removing his hat and glove and placing them on the railing for the umpire to inspect. When the umpire requests Lynn's belt, the pitcher carefully removes it and gently tosses it towards the umpire, who then immediately ejects Lynn from the game. The surprising ejection leaves both Lynn and his manager, Tony La Russa, perplexed, as they argue that the toss was not aggressive and that the umpire was late in arriving to conduct the check. "He's late getting over there, and then I'm trying to get some work done to go back out for the fifth, and obviously, he's, I hurt his feelings, man," Lynn says after the game. La Russa echoes this sentiment, stating, "I can't speak for the umpires and the league, how they're going to look at that." The incident has the potential to become a controversial one, with many fans and analysts questioning the umpire's decision to eject Lynn for what appears to be a harmless toss of his belt. The stakes are high, as Lynn was in the midst of a strong outing, chasing a potential Cy Young award, and the White Sox were in a close game against a divisional opponent. As the players and coaches grapple with the aftermath of the ejection, the broader implications of the league's enforcement of its foreign substance policies come into focus. The incident serves as a reminder of the delicate balance between upholding the rules and maintaining the integrity of the game, all while ensuring that players are treated fairly and with respect.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momenti heard his feelings
that's my man lancelin and he hurt an
umpire's feelings and this one is
brought to you by draftkings go to
draftkings when you download the app use
promo code john boy before we get into
why he got ejected we got to just watch
lance lin do his thing a little bit
because he's my favorite pitcher in all
of baseball he's got runners in scoring
position two outs a little bit of a jam
in the first inning 30 pitches but he
gets out of it with the little chopper
to second to first immediately starts
[ __ ] talking himself you happy
you [ __ ] piece of [ __ ]
now top third he's in a big jam base is
loaded no outs four-seam fastball
actually looks like a cutter to me
cutter top of the zone for strike two
and then the sinker the two seamer
running away from the batter awesome and
he's like why did that take so long why
am i even in this jam next up sinker in
to harrison for strike one sinker into
harrison for strike two cutter away for
strike three the ball went in it went in
it went away it's easy peasy he's got
two pitches the fastball can go right
down the middle it can go to the left it
can go to the right it does what lance
wants it to do and against chapman he
wants it to go right down the middle for
strike one and then right down the
middle again for strike two and then the
full count right down the middle again a
little sinker catches it out of the jam
all right let's get into the good stuff
now here's a funny little lance tidbit
that ball was hit on the ground and it's
an out and when balls hit the ground
like that they get a little scuff mark
on it and the batter may ask the umpire
hey can we change out that ball i don't
want the pitcher to take advantage of
that scuff mark that's what happens here
not sure what's happening here
and just a silly goose lancelin the
silly use oh he wants the new ball just
tell him to foul it off he'll get a new
one and i'll get a strike out of it and
everyone's laughing and having fun and
lancelin what a bully but he's so funny
and then he does get the foul ball okay
let's get into the ejection enough
lancelin just fought her because i'm
happy about it he's gonna end the fourth
inning with the ground out to short
ends the inning now they're doing the
sticky stuff checks where the umpire
usually meets the pitcher at the foul
line as he walks off checks his glove
his hat and his belt it usually happens
up here here's the umpire slowly walking
here's lance he's walking away now he
realizes like oh okay so he takes his
hat off he takes his glove off he sets
him on the railing for the umpire to
check him out you'll see the umpire say
hey i need your belt too and then you
see lance say oh okay and then he takes
his belt off and then he lowers his
hands and then he raises him up and he
does a careful little toss to the umpire
it falls off the railing and the umpire
ejects him for throwing his belt at him
maybe that could be the reason or for
refusal to comply with the checks maybe
that could be the reason both of those
would be wrong because he complied and
like if you look at this it's the most
ginger of tosses where it looks like
he's trying to make it land on the
railing it's not thrown in aggression at
all and the umpire throws him out and
everyone's like what
why
are you serious
it's like a big question of like are you
serious
is this really an ejection and lance is
gonna come back out because he was going
to the training room to get something
work on like ankle retaped or shoulder
something this or maybe just had to take
a [ __ ] and this um is like but you did
throw your belt at him and he's like
what
and then lance says hey you know what
thank you for letting me know you're a
big [ __ ] i appreciate it no no no truly
i appreciate it uh i won't forget that
though yeah okay bye and that ump's like
well i had to throw you are you through
and
you know ron kolpa's like all right
let's go let's go let's go let's go
let's go let's go you know what that is
that's uh john voight at the end of
varsity blues let's go let's go let's go
let's go like defeated knows he's wrong
but just clapping let's go let's go
let's go
let's go after that time now
let's go let's go
let's go
man i've seen a lot of ejections and
every time i make these videos there's
always people that take the ump side
first
and sometimes they have a leg to stand
on if you take the ump side on this one
i think you out yourself as someone who
just can't see both sides and someone
who's irrelevant to any future debate
because there's no taking the upside on
this it was the ginger toss of a belt
because he was going to get checked out
in training after the umpire was not
there he was late getting over so i left
my glove in my hat and then uh while i
was going down the dugout trying to see
the trainers because i'm dealing with
something he yells at me that he needs
to see my belt so i toss it up and then
he throws me out
were you expected to get tossed at that
point no i mean he's late getting over
there and then i'm trying to get some
work done to go back out for the fifth
and
you know obviously he's
i hurt his feelings
man and then you gotta hear what larussa
said it's really great yeah i don't know
i can't i
can't i can't speak for the umpires and
and and the league well how they're
going to look at that
um
so hope not
i'm hated i don't know what he did but i
hope i don't think he was real
[Music]
you know
say the kind of words
anyway i don't know all right finished
your sentence one time for us tony come
on now he was like three words and out
he abandoned every thought there anyway
there you have it i think this is in the
running for softest ejection of the year
and i don't know if it's got
anyone chasing it down
terrible
stupid and dumb taking innings away from
a guy chasing down a cy young because he
gingerly tossed his belt towards you
when you asked him for his belt
good job
go to draftkings use promo code john boy
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make it better too but on the white sox
they're good but not when they play
teams above 500 but hopefully they keep
beating oakland