A home run became a foul ball in seconds, and the reversal cost a manager his composure. Emmanuel Rodríguez stayed at the plate to watch the ball sail over the right-field fence. Once it did, he started running the bases, only for the umpire to call it a foul ball. The decision became the center of a heated dispute as the Minnesota Twins manager, Derek Shelton, was seemingly furious. His argument only made things worse.
Right after the announcement of a foul ball, the broadcasters predicted that Shelton would come out to appeal. Within moments, he stepped on the field and was seen having an animated conversation with plate umpire Brennan Miller. The manager even tried to have a conversation with the crew chief and third-base umpire John Tumpane.
Right after that, the play went to a crew chief review. But per Tumpane, Shelty wanted them to go right to replay without the crew consultation. While they later went with the replay and stuck to their initial decision of a foul ball, it seemed the skipper was not convinced.
Derek Shelton got hot, and the announcers again speculated that he would be ejected for the fourth time this season on Tuesday’s eighth-inning home run/foul ball call at Target Field.
The announcers thought that Shelton was initially concerned about how Miller could call it from third base.
The crew chief eventually confirmed the call. Derek Shelton kept arguing, and the official finally ejected him. And this sent the manager over the edge.
“Don’t f***ing toss me,” he exploded, according to the short clip shared by Jomboy Media. “Oh [expletive] you. Are you kidding me?”
The New York Yankees were leading 7-1 when Rodríguez appeared at the batter’s box in the bottom of the 8th. Reliever Ryan Yarbrough threw a 71-mph sweeper on a 1-2 count, and the batter hit it hard.
He was sure it would cross the fence, but he still waited to make sure. Then he started running the bases, thinking he had reduced the gap. Miller initially called it a home run.
But the umpiring crew reversed his call and declared a foul ball. While the 23-year-old reached home plate, Shelton had stepped out of the dugout to have a word with the umpire.
“The frustration there, honestly, was the fact that my argument was, don’t overturn it before you go to replay,” Shelton explained after the game.
“The conversation after that was, well, replay confirmed it, and my thing was don’t change it before. If they want to change it right away — but they didn’t. In my opinion, they did not. If you go to replay and it’s foul, 100% understand that, but in that case I didn’t think that’s the way it went down.”
The crew eventually went for a review, and the decision came against them. And it wasn’t the wrong one. The ball did go through the wrong side of the foul post in right field.
“[Derek Shelton] wanted us to go right to replay without the crew consultation,” crew chief and third base umpire John Tumpane shared. “I see his side of it, but we’ve always been trained that if there’s something we could do to get the call initially [we should], and we felt as a crew that we did.”
This season, the ejections for Shelton started with the Twins’ third game of the season against the Baltimore Orioles over the timing of an automated ball-strike system challenge made by Orioles closer Ryan Helsley. The second one came during a game against the Cincinnati Reds when Shelty argued with home plate umpire Nic Lentz following a dispute over a check swing by Elly De La Cruz, which was not called a strike by first base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt.
The September ejection was the first one for Shelton in the second half of the season, as his third one was in May in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers, where he went out to seek an explanation regarding an obstruction call.
With playoff hopes fading, Shelton’s frustration over the reversal reflected broader tension in a struggling season.
On Tuesday, Rodríguez had to return to the batter’s box, and he lined out after 3 more pitches. The Yankees increased the gap with another run in the next inning, and they finally secured an 8-1 victory to win the series with the rubber game remaining.
Minnesota suffered its seventh loss in the last 10 games. But they might have found something positive despite their struggling season.
Despite playoff hopes fading, Twins get encouraging glimpse of their future
The Twins are 4th in the AL Central with a 70-81 record. They aren’t mathematically out of the playoff picture yet. But the hopes of playing October ball are pretty thin. They are 6.5 games behind the final American League Wild Card spot with just 11 games remaining in the regular season.
Despite that fact, Minnesota recently injected some fresh blood into the roster.
The club promoted Walker Jenkins, Kaelen Culpepper, and Rodríguez.
Culpepper was the first to get the call and is batting at .275. The 23-year-old SS has already recorded 11 RBI and 3 homers. But he suffered left hamstring tightness and is awaiting an MRI.
Jenkins played his first MLB game on August 28, but is struggling with the bat.
Rodríguez, on the other hand, has been quite a story.
He made his debut against the Cleveland Guardians last Saturday. And he recorded his first home run in that same game. The center fielder has gone 5-for-15 over four games, recording 4 RBIs, 1 home run, 1 double and a triple. Tuesday’s hit would have added another homer to his name if it wasn’t reversed.
Irrespective of that decision, he has brought in a lot of hope.
The Minnesota Twins might or might not make it to the playoffs this season, but the inclusion of young players like Culpepper and especially Emmanuel Rodríguez has definitely signaled a bright future.