Kershaw and Profar chat about catchers interference, a breakdown
What Happened
In a tense matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, veteran left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers is facing off against Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar. With the game on the line, Kershaw delivers the first pitch, which sails into the stands. A Dodgers fan in the stands scrambles to catch the ball, nearly knocking over his companion in the process. After failing to secure the ball, the fan's companion picks it up and rubs it in his face, before handing it to an elated Padres fan sitting nearby. Back on the field, Kershaw battles Profar in a 3-2 count. Kershaw's next pitch goes straight down the middle and Profar appears to hold up on the swing. However, Kershaw immediately protests, claiming that Profar's bat made contact with the catcher's glove, resulting in a case of catcher's interference. "I hit his glove, Tom," Kershaw tells the home plate umpire. "It's catcher's interference, I hit his glove." Padres manager Jayce Tingler then comes out to discuss the play with the umpire. "Let me ask my friends, you guys want to watch a replay of this?" the umpire says. The umpires then review the play, as Kershaw and Profar continue to argue. "I've never seen this before and I don't know if it's in the rule book if the bat hits the glove that's catcher's interference," Kershaw says. "Usually it has to impede with the swing, but the ball is already in the catcher's glove before he hits the ball, so the glove did not impede the bat's path to the ball." After the review, the umpires determine that the play does not constitute catcher's interference, much to Kershaw's dismay. "That's a [expletive] swing," Kershaw tells Profar. Profar responds angrily, telling Kershaw to "shut the [expletive] up." The two players continue to exchange words, with Profar telling the umpire that the play "should not be getting checked on." Throughout the exchange, Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy tries to calm Profar, telling him "No, no, you're good, you're good." Profar, however, remains frustrated, asking Muncy, "Bro, what the hell is he thinking? I do that on purpose?" Muncy reassures him, saying, "No, no, you're good. You're battling, what do you want to do?" The dramatic sequence highlights the intensity of the rivalry between these two NL West contenders, as well as the complexities of the baseball rulebook and the emotions that can flare up on the field.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentall of these dodgers padres games have
been pretty intense so far
first pitch from kershaw to profar goes
into the stands
and this dude skirted around his wife or
the woman next to him in the white hat
to get a better beat on the ball
he loses it goes right to where he would
have been she picks it up
rubs it in his face then she gives it to
this padres fan
who gets oddly very emotional about it
and then back to kershaw he finds
himself into a
three two count against profar goes
right down the middle
and jerks and says no no no catcher's
interference
i hit his glove tom i had his glove he's
like i didn't hear anything i didn't
have that
he's like uh coach i hit his glove it's
catcher's interference
i hit his glove so tingler comes out to
ask the
umpire what he thinks about he says hold
up let me ask my friends you guys want
to watch a replay of this they say
absolutely we do
let's go check on it i've never seen
this before and i
don't know if it's in the rule book if
the bat hits the glove that's catcher's
interference usually it has to impede
with the swing
but like the ball is already in the
catcher's glove
before he hits the ball so the glove did
not
impede the bat's path to the ball
because the ball was already in the
glove
i don't know how this rule is phrased
in the rule book if it covers this or if
it's just like
doesn't cover it but yeah kershaw's
right that's that should not
be catcher's interference the ball was
already well past him and kershaw says
that's a [ __ ] swing and profar
says shut the [ __ ] up that's a
[ __ ] shut the [ __ ] up
it's a [ __ ] swing and then he tells
the umpire
says that should not be getting checked
on
gives him a little dagger they're like
oh we're checking anyway little passive
aggressive thumbs up and good job from
kirsch
always nice good job it's if somebody
hits it hard
not your [ __ ] swing it's the glove
and peds in a real swing
i'm with kershaw here i don't know if
like profar did it on
purpose like he should claim that he did
this on purpose because then maybe it's
like hey that's
that's heads up baseball you're doing
what you can but if he's
claiming that that's just like a swing
it's almost a worse look for him if he
declares this
not on purpose if you catch what i'm
saying because if he's just like no
that's a swing that's bad
and you can hear him say you can see him
say to muncie here
he says bro what the hell is he thinking
like i do that on purpose
and munchie's like no no no you're good
you're good and he says
i'm battling what do you want me to do
you know