Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch let home plate umpire Nic Lentz know that he was making it all about himself during his ejection on Wednesday.
It may be early on in the 2023 MLB season, but there have been a lot of editions of “The Ump Show.” Last week, there was the instance of Alfonso Marquez ejecting Arizona Diamondbacks Christian Walker for clapping in the dugout when agreeing with a call. Earlier in the season, Cody Bellinger got a pitch clock violation for acknowledging Dodgers fans in his first game back in Los Angeles as a member of the Chicago Cubs.
Here we are, yet again, to present to you the latest edition of “The Ump Show.”
During Wednesday’s matinee game between the Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates, Eric Haase was called out by home plate umpire Nic Lentz on a strike that hit the edge of the batter’s box. Haase wasn’t very happy about the call, as he began to have an animated discussion with Lentz as he walked towards the dugout. Lentz can be heard saying “I’m not perfect.”
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch stepped onto the field to defend Haase and was thrown out of the game by Lentz relatively quickly. That is when he went towards Lentz to have a discussion with him. The Bally Sports broadcast was able to pick up what both were saying, where Hinch told Lentz “You made it about you.”
Tigers: A.J. Hinch calls out umpire after ejection
Those are some powerful microphones. For those wondering about Haase’s at-bat, take a look for yourselves.
It wasn’t a great day for the Tigers, as they lost 8-0 to the Pirates. The offense had no answers for the Pirates, as they could only muster a single hit the entire game. That hit was a single by Matt Vierling in Detroit’s first at-bat of the game. From there, they went hitless in the remaining 27 at-bats of the game. The Tigers missed out on a chance to win their two-game series against the Pirates.
Pirates pitcher Rich Hill, who surrendered the single by Vierling, recorded seven strikeouts and two walks in six innings of work.
Hinch said what many fans and viewers of baseball games want to say to umpires who perform some antics during the game — “You made it about you.”