Umpire goes on bizarre rampage, ejects 5 from spring training game
A spring training game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers started as a matinee exhibition contest, but ended up becoming the Tom Hallion show.
Who’s Tom Hallion, you ask? Some hotshot young prospect?
No, Hallion was the home plate umpire for the game who became the story of the day for ejecting five players and coaches — four Phillies and one Tiger.
The first ejection occurred in the bottom of the fifth inning with Tigers hurler Matt Boyd pitching to Odubel Herrera. On a 2-1 pitch, Boyd threw over Herrera’s head, sending him to the ground.
On the next pitch, Boyd zipped one inside that apparently nipped Herrera, though it’s not clear from the video that it actually did. But that was enough for Hallion, and he threw Boyd out. Boyd, who couldn’t believe it, started laughing.
Tigers’ Pitcher Matthew Boyd gets ejected for throwing at Odubel Herrera
Reminder: Yankees vs Tigers (Beanball War) continues April 13-15th #Judge #Sanchez #Romine #Miggy pic.twitter.com/AJkSWg1JLi
— IB THE GAMBLER 🔌 (@incarceratedbob) March 22, 2018
But his manager, Ron Gardenhire, was not laughing. He came out of the dugout and argued with Hallion, though to no avail.
Given what transpired over the next few innings, it’s somewhat of a shock that Gardenhire didn’t get tossed, too.
Ron Gardenhire said umpire Tom Hallion told him, "I know when somebody's throwing at somebody." … Gardenhire said the pitch on which Odubel Herrera was hit was "not that far inside."
— Evan Woodbery (@evanwoodbery) March 22, 2018
Though Gardenhire argued that the second pitch wasn’t even that far inside, Herrera seemed convinced Boyd was throwing at him.
“He tried to hit me,” Herrera told the The Philadelphia Inquirer after the game. “But he can’t. I’m too quick for that.”
Then, in the top of the eighth inning, with the Tigers up 5-2, Phillies reliever Parker Frazier hit Tigers prospect Derek Hill with an 81 mph breaking ball. The pitch grazed Hill’s leg and Frazier was promptly tossed.
Phillies rookie manager Gabe Kapler came out to argue the ejection and — you guessed it — he was tossed as well.
Frazier, whose fiancée and in-laws were in attendance to watch him pitch in a pro game for the first time, wasn’t happy.
“They texted me, ‘What happened,’” Frazier said. “I told them accidental hit pitch.”
Finally, in the top of the ninth, Phillies pitcher Pedro Beato was thrown out by Hallion after his 1-1 fastball strayed a little too far inside and grazed Tigers batter Dylan Rosa’s jersey.
Phillies bench coach Rob Thomson, who at that point had replaced the ejected Kapler, came out to argue the call. He got the quick hook, too.
The ejections may have garnered all the attention, but what should have been the story was the first start for newly acquired Phillies pitcher Jake Arrieta, who gave up two runs on three hits in two innings.
“It felt great,” Arrieta said after the game. “I’m healthy. The ball is coming out good. To get the first one out of the way, even though it is a little bit later, it’s a good sign.”
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