Tampa Bay Rays star Randy Arozarena homered in his first at-bat during Friday’s game against the New York Yankees. The Yankees did not like it.
That led to a controversy which ultimately ended in Tampa manager, Kevin Cash, getting ejected.
In his first plate appearance after his first-inning homer, Arozarena came up with a runner on second and one out. For the Yankees, it presented a natural situation to pitch around, or even walk Arozarena. New York’s pitcher, Jhony Brito, did that, though in a less conventional way, hitting Arozarena on the first pitch.
Arozarena came up again in the fifth inning, this time with nobody on and one out. Just as Brito had done, Albert Abreu hit Arozarena on the first pitch. Though clearly unhappy, Arozarena took his base and the umpires conferenced. They eventually decided to warn both benches.
Tampa manager, Kevin Cash, was not happy. Given that it was Arozarena’s second hit by a pitch after hitting a home run, he seemed to feel that Abreu should have been ejected. Or, at the very least, the Rays shouldn’t have been warned after they did nothing wrong. Cash ran out to argue with first base umpire and crew chief, Lance Barksdale. While the conversation seemed civil enough, Barksdale eventually ejected Cash from the game.
"He ejected the wrong guy."
"Yes they did. If they ejected Cash, that's Lance Barksdale, they've really ejected the wrong guy. I mean, I don't know what could be more blatant."pic.twitter.com/sZoJEM7BLF
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 6, 2023
Even the Yankee announcers didn’t seem totally on board with the ejection, knowing that the entire situation could make the rest of the series more hazardous.
The Yankee Perspective: "That's one to file away for the next couple of games." https://t.co/QV7HB4lz2b pic.twitter.com/cWSvD4jzHO
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 6, 2023
Other fans were also critical of how it was handled.
Umps keep getting worse somehow https://t.co/Hg41Cn1dJn
— Johnny Two Hats (@Johnny_2Hats) May 6, 2023
Just dreadful. https://t.co/bV8L7513wq
— Kyle Mitchell (@Shenaniguy) May 6, 2023
THIS IS INSANE https://t.co/UWVUMQdopE
— Anthony G 💧 (@MustDefeatTwin) May 6, 2023
MLB umps get worse and worse every year. Pair that with they seem to be the most sensitive of the officiating groups in sports = games become unwatchable @MattThompson87 https://t.co/GEZM0OZWed
— Matthew Balte (@MatthewBalte) May 6, 2023
MLB umpire Lance Barksdale, a Brookhaven, MS native, is on an ejection rampage in Tampa. https://t.co/DO6P8GcMB9
— Brad Logan (@BradLoganCOTE) May 6, 2023
[Photo Credit: Bally Sports Sun]
