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Justin Turner Argues with Umpire on the Behalf of Ejected Opposing Pitcher

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In a world where more and more workers are afraid that automation will take our jobs, “Major League Baseball umpire” stands as a sign that in some lines of work, our new robot overlords can’t come soon enough.

We already have a robot system that’s better at calling consistent, fair balls and strikes, and every television broadcaster uses it to show the fans the speed and trajectory of every pitch thrown by every team in every game. To suggest that such a system would do a better job than the home plate umpire has been proven time and time again.

But there are plenty of other ways an umpire can screw up, and during the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ 16-2 blowout win over the Philadelphia Phillies Monday night, home plate umpire Doug Eddings made a mistake so egregious that even the batter came to the opposing pitcher’s defense, which has to be a first in MLB history.

Pitcher Yacksel Rios was getting shelled like a bag of peanuts in the eighth inning, giving up two doubles and a homer to plate three runs in a game that went from way behind to catastrophically behind as the Dodgers’ lead grew from 9-1 to 12-1 in the eighth.

Umpire Eddings was concerned that Rios would lose his composure, so when a slider got away from him and plunked the Dodgers’ Justin Turner in the knee, Eddings immediately tossed Rios from the game.

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And that’s when a phalanx of five Phillies argued with Eddings for the call — and found themselves joined in their dissent by none other than Turner himself, who gave Eddings an earful on his opponent’s behalf before making his way to take first base.

Eddings has something of a reputation, his calls during the 2005 American League Championship Series still a sore subject among Los Angeles Angels fans.

Many observers were quick to pounce on his performance Monday night.

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Even former New York Mets GM Steve Phillips chimed in.

Oh, and that mention of PitchF/x above and how there’s an example every night? Here are at least two from Eddings — in the same plate appearance. Phillies starter Zach Eflin was pitching.

Bring on the robots.

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Boston born and raised, Fox has been writing about sports since 2011. He covered ESPN Friday Night Fights shows for The Boxing Tribune before shifting focus and launching Pace and Space, the home of "Smart NBA Talk for Smart NBA Fans", in 2015. He can often be found advocating for various NBA teams to pack up and move to his adopted hometown of Seattle.
Boston born and raised, Fox has been writing about sports since 2011. He covered ESPN Friday Night Fights shows for The Boxing Tribune before shifting focus and launching Pace and Space, the home of "Smart NBA Talk for Smart NBA Fans", in 2015. He can often be found advocating for various NBA teams to pack up and move to his adopted hometown of Seattle.
Birthplace
Boston, Massachusetts
Education
Bachelor of Science in Accounting from University of Nevada-Reno
Location
Seattle, Washington
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Sports




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