00:00And over the weekend, an umpire got really mad at a rookie pitcher for having his hat tilted just a
00:08little bit.
00:11And Marmol, the Cardinals, the St. Louis Cardinals manager, obviously took, he was very mad about it, as the rest
00:19of the team was.
00:20Because you can go down the list of players that have weird things, that wear neon sleeves and having their
00:27hats to the side and all this different stuff.
00:30You can go down the list of all these players wearing their pants above their knees, like Hunter Pence did
00:35back in the day.
00:36Like, baseball players have these things.
00:39And that's kind of what makes the game so cool, is that you can go out there and look the
00:42way that you do and whatever the way you look.
00:44And you can still fire 100 miles per hour.
00:46You can still hit 320.
00:48You can still hit 35 bombs.
00:49I don't care.
00:50I think that's what makes baseball players so cool.
00:53Especially in 2026, when they're letting them pimp home runs, throw the bat across the field, and stomp on home
01:01plate.
01:02I think that character and the ability to show your character and be flamboyant with your character is what makes
01:10the game so cool.
01:11And it's what gives the game some fire and some energy.
01:16And I think what that umpire did was absolutely ridiculous.
01:19And it was absolutely crossing the line for no reason whatsoever just for him to have power over another play
01:25over a rookie and say this is how the league is supposed to be.
01:27When in reality, the league is not supposed to be all cookie cutter and suit and tie and business anymore.
01:32That's just not how it is anymore.
01:34Maybe back in the 80s and the 90s it was.
01:36But I think that the fact that he called him out and was pretty angry about it for no reason
01:41whatsoever was absolutely ridiculous.
01:43And I want to hear where you stand on it.
01:47Baseball is one of the more unique sports that we have.
01:51It's really the only sport where the field and the dimensions you play it in are different no matter where
01:58you go.
02:00And because of that, it's allowed some individualism.
02:08That should stop at umpiring.
02:11I shouldn't have to adjust to the strike zone because a different person is behind the plate.
02:17I've never seen a group of people be so arrogant when their jobs are on the line.
02:26There is literally a computer system getting your calls right when you get them wrong.
02:32And you still behave in a way that would put the character, not the rules, the character of the person
02:42making the calls to the forefront.
02:46CeCe Sabathia has worn his hat or did wear his hat in a tilted manner for almost his entire career.
02:54I never thought twice about it.
02:57There have been people who have written things on their hats, whether it be in memorial to someone or saying
03:04hello to their new a newborn child or some form of protest.
03:08The hat is an expression of the uniform, and if your uniform is within the guidelines, how your hat is
03:17shouldn't have caused this much of a disturbance.
03:21To me, this felt very personal.
03:25Yeah.
03:26It felt way too personal because it carried on.
03:30This should have been something where he went, hey, man, fix your hat.
03:33And the guy went, what?
03:35Get out of here.
03:37Okay.
03:38And that'd be the end of it.
03:39And then for him to turn around and say, oh, the catcher's the one who told me it was a
03:44distraction.
03:44Now you're lying.
03:46And then you follow that up by apologizing to him the next day.
03:50No, buddy, I'm going to need your job.
03:53I'm going to need your job.
03:54I know y'all got a union.
03:55I see y'all in court, buddy, because you got a track record.
03:59So now you got to go.
04:01You got to go.
04:02You at this point with ABS, you can't have guys like this behind the plate because it makes it seem
04:07personal.
04:08It makes it seem as if my calls are now tied to my emotions based on who I'm umpiring against.
04:17And you can't have that.
04:19This felt way too personal.
04:21Way too personal.
04:23And the thing is, I don't know if, well, listen, I'm pretty sure that Bill Eddings,
04:28remembers who Fernando Rodney was.
04:30You remember who Fernando Rodney was, John?
04:33The closer that shot the arrow into the sky all the time and had his hat turned to the side,
04:38like probably more than Ansel Rincone did.
04:40And nobody had an issue back then because he was.
04:43His hat had a gangsta lane on him.
04:44Right.
04:44And he was absolutely dominant for years.
04:47Like he was one of the best closers in the league for multiple years.
04:50And nobody cared.
04:51Nobody cares when other players.
04:53It's just like there was some personal vendetta here.
04:55Yeah.
04:56Maybe somebody, I don't know, maybe somebody got on his nerves before that.
05:00Maybe I just have no idea why umpires take it into their own to make it about them.
05:07And now it starts this whole conversation where it's about them and it's about this,
05:10this, and sort of the guy's debut or the guy that pitched and the Cardinals.
05:15And I just think it's, I think it's ridiculous.
05:18Let the kid wear his hat however he wants.
