Ejections happen nearly every single night in Major League Baseball. Player or manager argues, umpire listens for a bit, hears a magic word. Boom, you’re gone. Or maybe the manager protects a player from getting ejected or is trying to fire his team up. But what happened Monday night is the kind you don’t usually see: Seattle Mariners outfielder Keon Broxton blindly tossing his batting glove over his shoulder and hitting home-plate umpire Manny Gonzalez.
Yeah, that’s gonna get you tossed.
To be fair, the glove didn’t so much hit Gonzalez square on. It grazed his face. And Broxton had no idea he had thrown his batting glove that far. But it still happened.
Take a look:
Keon Broxton earns ejection with badass long-distance no-look glove slap: https://t.co/6ONoUbpB8S pic.twitter.com/yduhFndmtk
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) August 27, 2019
The pitch in question
Broxton, a former top prospect who has struggled to the tune of a sub-.600 OPS for the past two seasons, did have some reason to be upset. His stint with the Mariners hasn’t gone much better than with other teams, and here was a chance to at least take a walk.
The 3-2 pitch he took for strike three was borderline at best. Most would say it probably was ball four.
Keon Broxton has been tossed by home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez for arguing this called strike 3 which was obviously not a strike. pic.twitter.com/vXZPtxsHeW
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) August 27, 2019
A needed apology
Broxton was apologetic after the game, saying he never meant to hit Gonzalez and that he understood his ejection.
“I turned around and he said, ‘You hit me in the face. You’re out.’ I was like, ‘Argh. I did not mean to do that at all.’
“The odds of that happening are very slim. It’s really unfortunate it happened, but it’s all on me. That’s a lesson learned. I can handle things in a better way.”
Keon Broxton on his ejection where he inadvertently hit Manny Gonzalez with one of his batting gloves when he tossed them behind him in frustration. pic.twitter.com/PfqyoP3DgF
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) August 27, 2019
(h/t MLB.com)
