We had a Strikezone report and an ejection in Detroit with some hot mics, a breakdown
What Happened
In an August 2019 game between the Mariners and Tigers in Detroit, Jomboy broke down some unusually clear hot-mic audio. In the top of the seventh after a walk, the Tigers catcher is heard calmly relaying a kind of strike-zone report to the home plate umpire, which Jomboy found odd because it sounded less like an argument and more like the ump had asked the catcher to track certain pitches. Later in the game, things turned heated when a call sparked a confrontation and the Tigers hitting coach got ejected after a profanity-laced exchange with the umpire. The mics caught most of it, including the back-and-forth before the toss.
Why This Matters
Hot-mic moments like this pull back the curtain on the working relationship between catchers and umpires, which fans rarely hear. A catcher quietly giving feedback on the zone isn't against the rules, but it walks a line: umps can warn or eject players who show them up. The bigger flashpoint here is the coach ejection, which falls under standard arguing-balls-and-strikes territory, an automatic ground for getting tossed. In 2019 the strike-zone debate was loud, with the league already testing automated ball-strike systems in the independent Atlantic League. Clips like this fed the growing push for robot umps by putting the human element on full audio display. The aftermath was just another late-season ejection, but the audio is what made it stick.
With 1.4M views, this one ranks 196th of 1,583 Jomboy breakdowns, landing in the top 12% of the catalog despite no marquee names attached.
Key Moments
Who / What Is Involved
Strikezone, Detroit (MLB, 2019).
Key Terms Mentioned
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentwe had some hot mics in Detroit in the
Seattle game and it's uh this one's a
little different I just thought it was
super interesting so I wanted to tell
you guys what the mics picked up oh and
there's an injection at the end of this
as well this one's brought to you by
kicks under costs on Twitter go follow
them so first we're on the top of the
seventh and there's a walk and now we're
gonna hear the Tigers catcher just give
a report to the umpire you can hear it
how weird is that he's just calmly
giving the umpire of the report I wonder
if the umpire asked him to check like
hey can you check on those for me
they're a little bit or he's this is
very passive-aggressive it doesn't seem
like passive-aggressive it seems like
the UMP asked him to go check out some
pitches later on in the game we do get
an ejection if he was asking about his
own strikes on them he's not that
complex normal I have no idea that one
seems my calls it a strike
boom you're gone the hitting coach you
don't yell at me that's [ __ ]
horseshit your dice I got what's that
good accent on the umpire Scott's like
now it's not worth it's not worth it I'm
just gonna circle around what's that
what's that sounds like you stole my
1950s
it's how I read a picture of nineteen
fifties up to sound in a movie that's
made by Disney Channel anyway I don't
know I thought those were kind of
interesting and there's some hot mics
brought to you by kicks under cost' on
twitter go give them a follow find out
some nice deals up your shoe game have
some fun see guys later