Ronald Acuña Jr. led off Game 4 of the NLDS on Thursday, as his Atlanta Braves tried to fight off elimination against the Philadelphia Phillies. Acuña did not agree with a call against him in that at-bat, and found a unique way to make his point.
The first pitch of the game from Philadelphia’s Ranger Suárez was a called strike. It was apparent that Acuña didn’t agree with the call but aside from a little hop after the pitch was called a strike, he didn’t do anything to argue with home plate umpire David Rackley — at least not directly.
Acuña was sitting in the dugout, watching his at-bat on an iPad. When he realized that the television cameras were on him, Acuña showed the iPad screen, making it clear that he disagreed with the call.
Ronald Acuña Jr. showing the iPad to the TBS broadcast out of the break and saying "not a strike" is the level of pettiness I strive to reach pic.twitter.com/CEVmXtauBe
— Jake Crouse (@JakeCrouseMLB) October 13, 2023
Umpires have long been a source of frustration for not such baseball players, managers and coaches — but also fans. Normally, a player of Acuña’s caliber objecting to a call during a playoff game would get people to debate the call itself.
But Acuña’s method of argument drew more laughter than anything.
Hahahaha this looks like a scene from The Office https://t.co/KYBk8DHaio
— Brent Rooker (@Brent_Rooker12) October 13, 2023
https://t.co/QkImAJ4hWP pic.twitter.com/zfpNGzOx72
— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) October 13, 2023
I never want this series to end https://t.co/qpKoxi8AKJ
— Laura Albanese (@AlbaneseLaura) October 13, 2023
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) October 13, 2023
Of course, there was also a reference to another controversy brewing from this series.
The iPad is a sanctuary https://t.co/To0BSc5WMX
— FullCountTommy (@FullCountTommy) October 13, 2023
For what it’s worth, Acuña seemed to have a point about the call. We’ve seen worse calls and fortunately, this was only Strike 1, but the pitch did appear to be outside.
[Jake Crouse, Photo Credit: TBS]
