Doug Eddings is facing huge backlash after enforcing an “unwritten rule” on a rookie pitcher’s tilted cap, but his explanation for the decision is now under further scrutiny. The umpire said that a Colorado Rockies batter had asked whether Hancel Rincon was allowed to wear his cap that way, prompting Eddings to tell the St. Louis Cardinals reliever to straighten it. However, the twist came when Hunter Goodman denied saying anything about the pitcher’s cap.
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“Eddings admitted that it was an ‘unwritten rule’ before describing it as a distraction to the batter, which he implied was against the rules. Today, Goodman told media he never said anything about Rincon’s hat,” Umpire Auditor updated on X.
Rincon is a 24-year-old rookie who made his MLB debut with the Cardinals on Friday, but his first game didn’t go as planned. No, we’re not talking about surrendering 3 hits, 3 runs and a homer in 13 pitches. While he was on the mound, the home plate umpire paused the game and instructed the Cardinals’ catcher to ask him to straighten his cap.
According to Eddings, Hunter Goodman was the one who noticed that the rookie reliever was wearing his hat in a tilted fashion, and he reportedly asked the umpire, “Hey, can he wear his hat like that?”
This prompted the action from the official, and Rincon obliged.
After a disappointing outing from the rookie, manager Oliver Marmol pulled him and sent Justin Bruihl on the mound, but it helped little as the Rockies went from trailing 4-1 at the beginning of the 6th to leading 5-4 by the time it was over.
The pitching change didn’t help their cause, and Marmol was already arguing with Eddings. This resulted in him getting a pitch clock violation, and things escalated further. The manager was in the umpire’s face, shouting at the top of his lungs.
“Fix your hat? Fix your hat?” Marmol could be seen yelling. “You need to grow the f*** up. He’s a rookie. You kidding me about his f *** hat?”
The umpire tossed him from the game, only generating further frustration from the Cardinals.
And his controversial safe call to Adael Amador reaching home base in the same inning didn’t help suppress the noise. The Cardinals still somehow managed to win 7-6 on Friday.
But things took a different turn for the umpire when Goodman told the media that he never said a single thing about Rincon’s hat. In fact, before Saturday’s game, several players from the Cardinals and Rockies dugouts were seen with their hats tilted in a manner similar to how Rincon was wearing it.
Before the game started, Eddings and Rincon had a brief chat. They nodded at each other, and according to the Cardinals’ broadcast booth, the umpire apologized for his actions from the previous day. However, their manager had already explained what had caused Eddings to lose his cool the night before.
“I had an issue with Doug,” Marmol said after the game. “Just Doug. He took it upon himself to tell our rookie pitcher the kid’s ‘not going to wear his hat on my field that way.’ You got [former pitchers] Dontrelle Willis, CC Sabathia, Pedro Strop — plenty of guys that have worn it way more tilted. I have an issue with that. That’s just a power-hungry move, in my opinion.”
And now many fans online agree with the umpire having a power trip and are asking for serious action against Eddings.
One fan commented on the Umpire Auditor’s post, “Even if true {that Goodman complained about the hat], umpires aren’t there to police unwritten rules,” as another user took a sarcastic dig, saying, “The ump lied? Shocked.”
“Of course he did. Eddings is a clown,” read another comment.
Some people want strict punishment for such incidents, and one of them wrote, “Doug Eddings is an embarrassment to the profession and should be held accountable @MLB.”
“Get this guy out of the league,” wrote another person.
Some fans have had enough of such actions from umpires, and asking a rookie to straighten his cap was simply the final straw. The way Eddings missed seemingly easy calls only intensified the backlash. The lack of accountability from umpires has also been a growing issue in MLB for some time, but fans are yet to see any significant steps from the league.