Oakland Athletics first baseman Ryan Noda was ejected in Monday night’s 7-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox after appearing to draw a light line into the dirt after pulling out strikes.
Noda, after being called swinging in the seventh inning at Oakland, swept his bat into the dirt as he began to walk towards the dugout. Plate umpire Emil Jimenez, clearly thinking Noda was malicious with his move, immediately ejected Noda from the game.
This sent manager Mark Kotsay running to question the ejection and left Noda extremely confused. Just look:
Although not an official rule, drawing a line in the dirt is often considered an affront to the umpire behind home plate. Batters have drawn lines in the dirt to symbolize where they have fallen, the ball going through home plate, or else outside home plate, in the past and are frequently ejected on the spot.
Philadelphia Phillies star Nick Castellanos was thrown out immediately in April after he bent over and touched the ground after what he thought was a misqualified third strike.
Julio Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners was ejected from a game last season after drawing a very clear line in the dirt after a strike called as well. The ejection of Rodriguez was much more definitive than that of Noda or Castellanos.
Although Noda barely swept the dirt and actually swung the third strike, Jimenez wasted no time in ejecting him.
The Red Sox cruised to a 6-0 victory at Oakland on Monday night, thanks in large part to a four-run sixth inning that included a two-rb double bat from Connor Wong, a sacrifice fly from Adam Duvall and an RBI from Yu Chang. They also limited the A’s to just one hit on the night, and Boston pitcher Nick Pivetta tied a career-high 13 strikeouts after replacing starter Brennan Bernardino.
The win marked Boston’s third in four games since the All-Star break. The A’s have now lost four in a row and eight in a row before the break.
“I would like to say you just washed this game,” Kotsay said, via NBC Sports. “WHO P was good. We struggled with the same two pitchers in Boston. We came out tonight, and P really outplayed us. There’s no other way to really describe it…You sometimes meet a circular saw, and tonight seemed to be that night.”