Aug 16, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona (77) argues with umpires Alan Porter (64) and Lance Barksdale (23) in the ninth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona went ballistic on the umpire during the team’s game against the Los Angeles Angels.
Is there really an MLB game if there is no controversy surrounding the umpire? Well, that is exactly what happened during the Sept. 12 game between the Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Angels.
In the seventh inning, a low pitch rom Ryan Tepera of the Angels to Guardians shortstop Andres Gimenez was called a ball. Cleveland manager Terry Francona was expressing his belief that his player was hit in the foot, thus warranting that he take first base. After converging with his colleagues, home plate umpire Ron Kulpa told Francona “no.” That set Francona off, as he was ejected from the game and said “f–k you” multiple times to Kulpa.
But Kulpa was not done just yet.
Terry Francona, Phil Nevin ejected by umpire Ron Kulpa during Guardians
After Francona was ejected, Tepera tried to get some warm up pitches in due to the lengthy delay. Kulpa was having none of it, saying “because I said so,” when he was challenged by the Angels pitcher. Manager Phil Nevin went out onto the field to talk to Kulpa, and was ultimately ejected as well.
In between pitches, both Francona and Nevin were tossed by Kulpa. You can check out the full sequence in the tweet below, courtesy of Twitter user “@gifs_baseball.”
But in the bottom of the ninth inning, Kulpa had to leave the game, as he was hit in the face mask by a foul ball. This occurred with two outs and two strikes on the board.
A truly hectic end to the Guardians-Angels game. As for who won, Cleveland picked up the 5-4 victory.