Joe Mikulik has turned getting ejected from baseball games into performance art.
The manager of the Frisco Roughriders has become notorious for losing his shit on umpires. While some managers try to get in some foul words with umpires when they’re ejected, Mikulik gives the stadium audience a full on show. Mikulik has previously thrown bases, thrown his shoes in anger and stripped down at the plate in defiance of umpires rulings. On Tuesday, he unleashed his biggest outburst yet.
In the eighth inning of a game against the Tulsa Drillers, Mikulik challenged the umpire crew on a ruling one of his players was out after an illegal slide. Mikulik didn’t even try to keep his cool, running up the umpires and throwing his helmet at the second base bag. He gets a few words in before sliding into second base, then goes full Hulk, exchanging more words with umpires before sliding to second again, grabbing the base and kicking it, while also kicking a helmet on the ground. To top it all of, Mikulik pretends like he’s going towards the dugout before he starts kicking the chalk at the third base foul line.
It’s entertaining to see Mikulik lose his mind, but at this point, he knows what he’s doing. He’s a showman and spices up his outbursts so he can get a reaction from the crowd. Despite the outburst being entertaining, Mikulik is probably going to have to miss time with a suspension, and he is actually a good manager. Ultimately, is it really worth it?
