Do not tell Oliver Marmol’s boys how to wear their baseball hats.
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The St. Louis Cardinals manager found himself at the center of an unusual incident on Friday night, as he defended his rookie reliever’s hat-wearing style. Faced with the bizarre situation, Marmol lost his temper while confronting home plate umpire Doug Eddings six innings into the game.
With the Cardinals leading 4-1, Marmol sent rookie Hancel Rincon to the mound, but before he could pitch, Eddings appeared to have an issue with the way Rincon’s hat was positioned. It was sitting a little crooked on his head, and he straightened it once the umpire asked. Instead of the chapter closing there, it only escalated. Marmol did not like Eddings directing Rincon about his cap. Even after a pitching change, a pitch-clock violation for Bruihl, and an ejection for himself, the manager continued to argue with Eddings.
“Fix your hat? Fix your hat?”- the broadcast cameras caught a furious Marmol yelling at Eddings, per Jomboy Media on X. “You need to grow the f*** up. He’s a rookie. You kidding me about his f *** hat? You need to grow the f*** up.”
Eddings revealed, per MLB.com, that it was actually Hunter Goodman who first took exception to Rincon’s hat. After Goodman voiced his concerns, Eddings asked the Cardinals’ catcher to tell Rincon to straighten his hat.
According to Rincon, the interruption did not distract him from his debut. He retired Goodman but allowed a triple to TJ Rumfield and an inside-the-park homer to Cole Carrigg. During Rincon’s outing, the Rockies chipped away at the Cardinals’ lead, bringing the score to 4-3. After Rincon allowed another single to Connor Norby, Marmol pulled him for Justin Bruihl.
But the pitching change did not stop Marmol from confronting Eddings, and in the process, he earned a pitch clock violation for Bruihl. As Marmol went nose-to-nose with the home-plate umpire, Eddings ultimately tossed the manager.
“Some words were exchanged there. I thought it was pretty embarrassing on his [Doug Eddings] end,” Marmol said postgame, per Foul Territory. “We have a kid making his debut, and in between an at-bat, he tells them that he needs to fix his hat, and ‘a kid’s not going to wear a hat like that on my field.’ So, last I checked, this is Coors Field. So I took issues with it.”
Marmol has found himself at the center of umpiring controversies before. Right after the All-Star break, Marmol earned himself an ejection arguing an HBP call against the Atlanta Braves.
With the score knotted at 3, JoJo Romero had already retired two Braves hitters in the ninth inning. It was Michael Harris II’s turn at bat. The dispute began over a sinker Romero threw on a 0-2 count, which seemingly grazed Harris on his forearm. After the umpires ruled it a hit-by-pitch, Marmol challenged the call. But after the on-field call was upheld, the manager lost his temper. He rushed into the field to argue and got tossed for his actions. After Harris walked, the Braves scored the winning run.
Coming back on Friday, Eddings handed Marmol his fourth ejection of the season. Postgame, the home plate umpire explained his side of the story.
Doug Eddings on Friday’s hat-gate
There are no guidelines in the MLB rulebook on how players should wear a hat. The home plate umpire, Doug Eddings, also admitted that the 24-year-old Rincon was not breaking any rules. But Eddings maintained there was nothing wrong with telling Rincon to fix the hat. The home plate umpire even called for time to convey the message.
“It’s not [a rule],” Eddings said postgame, per MLB.com. “I guess it’s a little unwritten rule. They can’t wear [their cap] backwards like a catcher. If it’s a distraction, like anything on the field, like a glove or something, and someone makes you aware of it, then you kind of address that.”
Following Rincon’s outing and Marmol’s ejection, the game continued smoothly. The Cardinals surrendered their lead as Bruihl allowed two runs on RBI singles, and the Rockies took the lead. Rumfield extended the gap with a solo shot, putting the Rockies up 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh.
However, the Cardinals needed only one pitch to turn the game in their favor. At the top of the ninth, Ivan Herrera launched a three-run home run to seal the Cardinals’ 7-6 victory.