Umpire Doug Eddings apologizes to Cardinals pitcher Hansel Rincon for telling him to straighten crooked cap
Umpire Doug Eddings apologized to St. Louis Cardinals rookie pitcher Hancel Rincon for an incident where he demanded the player straighten his cap. The interaction caused a brief controversy and the ejection of Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol.
Why it matters
Illustrates the tension between officiating standards and player conduct in professional baseball, sparking discussions on umpire discretion.
Umpire Doug Eddings apologized to St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Hancel Rincon on Saturday for telling the rookie to straighten his tilted cap during Friday's 7-6 win over the Colorado Rockies.
However, the veteran umpire reportedly felt compelled to do so after Major League Baseball told him that he acted inappropriately in admonishing Rincon, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal .
Eddings' directive to Rincon caused an uproar that resulted in Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol being ejected from the game for arguing over what occurred.
"He apologized for what happened [Friday] night," Rincon said through bullpen catcher and team interpreter Kleininger Teran, via the St. Louis Post Dispatch's Derrick Goold . "He also told me good luck for the rest of my career as a big-leaguer."
The rookie added that he told Eddings, "'Don't worry, it's nothing personal, and everything stays here," according to MLB.com's Owen Perkins .
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