During a Triple-A game on Tuesday between the Norfolk Tides (Baltimore Orioles) and Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox), Norfolk manager Ron Johnson was quite displeased with a call made by umpire Derek Mollica in the seventh inning.
Johnson felt that Charlotte shortstop Tim Anderson (one of the top-100 prospects in baseball) was off the base on a force play at second base, and that the Norfolk baserunner should’ve been ruled safe on the play.
So, Johnson came storming out of the dugout, and after some arguing with Mollica led to an ejection, Johnson went over to second base to reenact how the play happened in his eyes. That alone was funny, but what was even better was Johnson chucking his hat into the crowd as he exited the field:
And Norfolk manager Ron Johnson’s signature post-ejection hat toss: #Orioles pic.twitter.com/KSjichZAuB
— David Hall (@DavidHallVP) May 10, 2016
As David Hall of The Virginian-Pilot says in the above tweet, the hat toss after an ejection is actually a “signature” thing for Johnson, a former major league ballplayer. In April, Johnson was ejected from a game, but didn’t do the hat toss, as he said he wasn’t feeling it with the “Monday night crowd”:
AAA Norfolk manager Ron Johnson on not tossing his hat tonight after being ejected: “I didn’t feel it today. Monday night crowd.” #Orioles
— David Hall (@DavidHallVP) April 12, 2016
The Tuesday night crowd certainly gave Johnson the inspiration he needed, apparently.
