The Venezuelan baseball league has witnessed its fair share of managerial meltdowns this season, with former MLB catcher Yadier Molina repeatedly getting ejected for arguing with umpires. Now, another familiar face from the big leagues has joined the list. Bravos de Margarita manager Henry Blanco, the former Los Angeles Dodgers catcher, lost his cool over a strike call and took his frustration straight to the on-field umpire.

The fiery emotions that once defined their playing days are now spilling into the dugout, and the umpires are finding themselves right in the line of fire. The response was all too familiar: the umpire signaled his ejection, and another member of the coaching staff had to step in to pull Blanco away from the confrontation.

“Henry Blanco was ejected against Leones. The Bravos de Margarita manager was ejected from the game in the top of the seventh after disputing home plate umpire Jorge Marinez’s call on an Amarista swing at a wild pitch that was ruled a strike,” Beisbol Play shared via X.

Margarita entered the game with a 10-10 record in 20 games, ranked fifth in the league. They are ranked fifth, and hence Blanco was more than desperate to take the game home.

In the top of the seventh inning, Bravos veteran Alexi Amarista stepped into the box against Leones pitching and faced a wild pitch. As Amarista moved to avoid the errant pitch, he brought his bat forward in a defensive check-swing motion.

Home plate umpire Jorge Marinez judged that Amarista had offered at the pitch and officially ruled it a strike. The drama started to unfold as Blanco immediately exited the Bravos dugout and charged onto the field to fiercely argue the call with Marinez.

Following the heated exchange, the umpiring crew, with third-base umpire Juan Gómez involved in the toss, ejected Blanco from the game. However, despite the ejection, Blanco continued to argue, and it was only after a Margarita staff member took him away that the game started again.

Caracas completed a comeback in the seventh inning after capitalizing on defensive miscues, including a Bravos error and a wild pitch, to push across three runs off Margarita reliever Núñez before Sandy Gaston closed out the bottom half for the save.

Last month, Molina was ejected for the third time. During a road game in Puerto La Cruz against the Caribes de Anzoátegui, Caribes batter Gabriel González was hit by a pitch in the first inning. Molina charged back out of the dugout to reignite the argument. He was ejected in the first inning as Magallanes went on to lose 6–5.

Blanco’s MLB career, by contrast, was marked by composure.

As the veteran backup catcher for the Chicago Cubs in 2006, Blanco was in the middle of the massive bench-clearing melee at U.S. Cellular Field after White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski bowled over Cubs catcher Michael Barrett at home plate and Barrett punched him. Following Barrett’s 10-game suspension from MLB, Blanco took over as the Cubs’ primary starting catcher.

Last year, while serving as bench coach for the Washington Nationals under interim manager Miguel Cairo, Blanco twice took over managerial duties mid-game during heated umpire disputes.

On August 20 against the Mets and again on September 10 against the Marlins, both Cairo and pitcher Jake Irvin were ejected by crew chief Laz Díaz. Blanco had to step in to pull his furious starter off the mound and manage the remainder of the games.

With such a personality back in MLB, Venezuelan baseball intensity may be taking over the veterans.