Umpire Mike Estabrook spent the weekend ejecting the Milwaukee Brewers from their games against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Estabrook was behind the plate on Saturday for the team’s 7-2 loss to Philadelphia. He ejected Ryan Braun and manager Craig Counsell for arguing balls and strikes. Counsell was tossed after arguing on behalf of Lorenzo Cain, who struck out in an at-bat where he should have walked if Estabrook had called pitches properly.
Braun was tossed for complaining about a strike call that led to a strikeout in the fourth inning of that game.
As if those two ejections weren’t enough, Estabrook tossed third baseman Mike Moustakas during Sunday’s game. Moustakas said he was ejected for trying to talk with Estabrook about a check swing call.
According to Bloomberg’s stats, Estabrook was tied last year for the lowest percentage of correctly called pitches behind the home plate at 86 percent. Oddly, the Brewers actually benefited from a blown Estabrook call against the Phillies several years ago.
Making bad calls behind the plate is bad enough, but ejecting a player for trying to have a discussion with you about a call seems excessive.
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