They say if you go to the ballpark, there’s a chance you’ll see something you’ve never seen before. Monday’s double ejection in Cleveland might not have been a first, but it certainly qualifies as rare.
What happened at Progressive Field in the seventh inning of the Angels-Guardians game was definitely bizarre. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, both Cleveland manager Terry Francona and Angels interim manager Phil Nevin were ejected on the same play by home plate umpire Ron Kulpa. The double toss got Cleveland’s fans plenty riled up as the situation on the field devolved into pure chaos.
Francona was the first skipper to get the boot from Kulpa after arguing about the pitch from Ryan Tepera, which he believed hit Andrés Giménez. The pitch was instead called a ball, prompting an irate Francona to come out and plead his case.
After Francona was tossed and continued screaming at Kulpa, Tepera attempted to make some warm-up tosses, which umpires prevented him from doing. That’s when Nevin took his turn to burst onto the field, receiving a quick hook to join Francona in leaving the game for good.
Cleveland went on to win the game, 5–4, so Francona was likely the happier of the two managers after the game. But both will probably have a few words for the umpiring crew ahead of Tuesday’s game.
