Cardinals manager ejected after dispute over rookie’s tilted hat
Oliver Marmol protested an umpire’s instruction to Hancel Rincon during the rookie reliever’s major league debut as St Louis beat Colorado 7–6.
St Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was ejected during his side’s 7–6 win over the Colorado Rockies after disputing an instruction for rookie reliever Hancel Rincon to straighten his tilted hat.
Plate umpire Doug Eddings asked Rincon to adjust the hat during the sixth inning of his major league debut. Rincon complied and retired the first batter he faced, but later allowed a triple, a wild pitch, an inside-the-park home run and a single before being removed.
Marmol confronted Eddings during the pitching change. The umpire assessed a pitch-clock violation to the Cardinals while Marmol continued protesting, then ejected the manager.
Marmol said he objected to Eddings telling Rincon he would not wear his hat that way, describing the intervention as a “power-hungry move” in his opinion. He also said other pitchers had worn their caps more tilted.
Eddings said Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman had raised the issue. He described the instruction as an “unwritten rule”, rather than a formal rule, explaining that a cap could be addressed if it became a distraction and someone brought it to the umpire’s attention.
Rincon said through an interpreter that he did not know why he had been asked to adjust the hat but accepted the decision. The Cardinals won for their third victory in four games and moved to within 3½ games of the National League’s final wild-card position.
