DETAILS: "Marmol ejected after rookie Rincon told to straighten hat out" (MLB)."Grow the fuck up"
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) September 5, 2026
Cardinals manager Oli Marmol was furious with umpire Doug Eddings after Eddings told rookie pitcher Hancel Rincon to fix his hat in the middle of his MLB debut pic.twitter.com/3t3AitYsCX
“The batter [Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman] said, ‘Hey, can he wear his hat like that?’” [umpire Doug] Eddings recounted after the game. “I really didn't know, but it was really, really crooked. I asked the catcher to tell him to straighten his hat out, and the pitcher did. Nobody said anything until he gave up a couple runs.”
SIDETRACK: "The way you wear your hat..."Rincon said the comment didn’t distract him from his debut and that he didn’t argue with Eddings about his comment. “I had no idea why he told me to do it,” Rincon said through an interpreter. “It's fine.”...
“I had an issue with Doug,” [Cardinals manager Oliver] Marmol said... “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 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 I think of the 4th sentence of "Moby-Dick":
Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.
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62 komento:
It's a new era. It's their world now. Time for the old guys to move on. Except for me.
It would have been nice if somebody had said what was wrong with the hat.
Cardinals are third in MLB Central; 17 games behind the Brewers. Manager needs to be fired.
I guess there are worse things a baseball manager can be called than fiercely protective.
The "kid" would be welcomed in Banana Ball where players are encouraged to have fun and express themselves. Banana Ball is "not your grandfather's baseball."
Is it the ump’s version of rookie hazing, with the idea of bringing the hot young thing back down to earth? The pitcher can literally kill a man (which could be the umpire) with that arm, so has to be reminded right quick to follow all the ump’s instructions instantly. CC, JSM
"It would have been nice if somebody had said what was wrong with the hat."
I told you. He had it on tilted. I had the same question and asked Grok. That was the answer: the hat was worn at a slight angle.
The crooked hat could be a strategery to distract the batter, in the same way it distracted the umpire.
In between pitches, there is some cat and mouse gamesmanship that has always, seems to me, being accepted as part of the game.
The game withing the game.
It could also double as a cool look, going back to the last decade of the last century.
The recent updating of the game, video replay appeals, balls and strikes appeals, have taken away a lot of what used to be the umpires domain.
I could see some umpires trying make their presence known, if you will, right from the outset of the game.
Hey, I'm umpiring here, I'm umpiring here. (in the voice of Dustin Hoffman)
Coach should have fixed Ump's hat?
Thanks for this. A GREAT way to start the day. 🙂
His teammates could've backed him up and all tilted their hats to match.
Is there an argument that the hat is a part of the perception as to what direction the pitcher is looking?
Showboating rookie runs aground in shallow water.
What’s with the foul mouthed cheerleader? He should have been docked.
The Cubs had a pitcher, Pedro Srop, who wore his hat tilted sideways. He did it his whole career. The Cubs were okay with it. His previous team, the Royals, would fine him.
Here is Strop
Let's see the hat, annie.
Give you readers what they want to know instead of making them click elsewhere for the story... hth. Try to think like a reader?
Struggling.....
Is it conservative to side with the umpire and his desire for tradition and as he sees it, orderliness.
Or is it conservative to side with the player in regards to his hat/his choice.
A journeyman reliever named Fernando Rodney also wore his hat crooked.
The kid could have also been emulating another fellow Dominican pitcher with a tilted cap, Fernando Rodney.
ai: The pitcher famous for wearing his baseball cap tilted sharply to the side is three-time All-Star closer Fernando Rodney.
While the signature crooked cap often **irritated** opposing fans and traditionalists, Rodney had highly strategic—and deeply personal—reasons for the look.: Tribute to his Father: Rodney revealed that the tilt was a lifetime tribute to his father, Ulise, a fisherman in the Dominican Republic who passed away just six days before Rodney's MLB debut. His father always wore his cap tilted to that specific side to block the blinding sun while out on the water.
Rodney also used the angle as gamesmanship. Because hitters and base runners look for a pitcher's eyes to read their focus and movement, the tilted brim obscured his face, making it difficult for batters to track his eyes and preventing runners from getting a good jump on base."
Suspicions Confirmed.
Each umpire lives in his own umpire world and usually only communicates with other umpires. Hence, this kind of stuff. They don't do fashion.
It's a really strong union.
I spent many games yelling at Pedro to straighten his hat. Well, yelling at my TV, that is. It had the impact of this comment. Maybe even less than that.
When I coached youth baseball, I always told kids to straighten their hats. It's called a uniform for a reason. Also, no chanting in the dugout. I despise chanting (which is a key tool of activists, protestors, community organizers & other simple minded people).
Don't get me started on shoulder-long curly locks flowing out from under the helmets of pro football players.
I haven't had this much fun since I stopped watching professional wrestling. That's what this nonsense reminds me of, the kayfabe. For some reason it seems like umpires have turned into first class mini-tyrants this season, or is it just me? Are they all playing heels now, and will managers start sporting long, flowing locks? How come they can't just call balls and strikes any more?
I still don’t like it that stirrups have gone the way of the dodo bird.
If the manager didn't object when the request was made, he should shut up about it later. Never teach your young players to blame someone other than themselves when their performance falters, - you are effectively excusing them from bearing down when things get tough (or worse, as here, where things get mildly annoying).
** Ann Althouse said...I told you. He had it on tilted. **
Yes, you used the word “tilted,” but in this video clip it looks just fine, so “tilted” is not helpful. Clicking through (which I did) does not help either How is tilted? Because if it’s tilted in that clip where it looks just fine, then “tilted” doesn’t get us anywhere.
Allow crooked hats and next they’ll be doing dance routines on home plate.
Ump gave him the high hat.
He wasn't entitled to be en tilted.
He wanted to play by his own rules
But he was called out on it.
There was a crooked ump, and he umped a crooked game,
He saw a crooked cap on crooked rookie's....
"Yes, you used the word “tilted,” but in this video clip it looks just fine, so “tilted” is not helpful. Clicking through (which I did) does not help either How is tilted? Because if it’s tilted in that clip where it looks just fine, then “tilted” doesn’t get us anywhere."
Do you want to use a challenge for that?
Ann Althouse said...
There was a crooked ump, and he umped a crooked game,
He saw a crooked cap on crooked rookie's....
And many an umpire has thought "Oh no, dont let the rain come down."
Ahh hah.
Oy the drama!
Tim McGuire, he was wearing his hat so that the brim faced away at an angle, rather than facing symmetrically away. Not so much "tilted" as not on straight.
Ann Althouse said...
Do you want to use a challenge for that?
-----------------
LOL!
Maybe the umps are getting touchy about losing challenges. If they had had the video review in the glory days of the Atlanta Braves, Maddox would not have had those pitches called strikes that were so far outside that the batters would have been lucky to reach if they were using an oar for a bat.
Hats are a big deal in some LatAm cultures. Knocking a hat off is a mortal insult. Taking your own hat off is a preparation to fight. Your hat literally keeps you alive in hot climates. It's a symbol of your masculinity in terms of your willingness to do hard work outside. Could go after the ump for cultural insensitivity. CC, JSM
Nobody umpires baseball on my field with a fat belly like that.
It’s plainly gamesmanship though; at this level, the tiniest bit of distraction of the batter is worth a lot. I saw a pitcher earlier this year wearing his hat cocked, so I don’t know that it’s a strict rule violation, but if all of the pitchers do it, it’s going to change the game, and I have never seen a position player do it.
I sense neuroticism, insecurity, and power conflicts behind the controversy, but of course, some people will make it all about racism.
Why neuroticism (a word that doesn't get used much anymore)? Athletes are supposed to be able to power their way through anything. We sensitives and neurotics are the ones who get distracted and disturbed by irrelevant details.
Dizzy Dean is wearing his hat cocked on his HoF plaque.
IMHO, baseball players, managers, and coaches are a bunch of crybabies who like to drop the F-bomb and show off. There are few real fights. The bullpen running in when something happens is so cringe, it is laughable. The Umps should insist on automatic ejection for the f-bomb. Fuck them. ;)
Go to Jomboy media clips -- the guy lip reads and it's funny as all get out.
Ann, thanks for posting one of my all-time favorite Fred and Ginger scenes.
@Colleen Brown - for some reason when I saw 'the way you wear your hat', I immediately connected to that old Gershwin tune without knowing that this was the movie it was first sung in (I haven't seen it). I looked it up, and it was 1937, 'Shall We Dance'. The very next year the 'Big Broadcast of 1938' came out, with Bob Hope singing 'Thanks for the Memory', with the same post-divorce bittersweet moment, to Shirley Ross.
A hat tip to the gay divorcee.
Without looking it up, I surmised that the Cards are out of contention.
I was watching it live. Lots of fun.
Ollie has a short history of getting tossed, a lot. And apparently this ump has a long history of tossing managers.
Ollies long after the toss tirade also resulted in the apparent intentional safe call at the plate which was obviously an out.
They had already challenged a previous call and had none remaining.
@aggie - You should try to watch "Shall We Dance" sometime. I can spend hours watching YouTube videos of Fred and Ginger dancing. Fred had other partners later in his career, but Ginger is my favorite. I will have to check out the Bob Hope movie. It will be interesting to see him sing his signature song for the first time.
YouTube: Norm on OJ's lucky stabbing hat
"Go to Jomboy media clips -- the guy lip reads and it's funny as all get out."
If he focused on any other sport, he would easily be in YouTube's top 100 list.
I’m not gonna look it up, but yeah, he has to wear his uniform properly.
From the umpire:
“It's not [a rule],” Eddings said. “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.”
It looked like it was too high. I don't understand why the coach cares about this. The pitcher is a grown man and a professional athlete. Is he supposed to wither under the perceived personal rejection of being asked to fix his hat?
From mlb.com:
Rincon said the comment didn’t distract him from his debut and that he didn’t argue with Eddings about his comment.
“I had no idea why he told me to do it,” Rincon said through an interpreter. “It's fine.”
Handsome kid, despite the manearring. The umpire should transfer to the WNBA. He'd find one or two things to keep him busy there and maybe cut back on the waistline.
At a glance (as a Mets fan, all I can do is glance at the sports pages in the Post, then try to blot them from my mind), I thought they were referring to Rincon, Georgia, one of the most beautiful places I've seen. It's a fine way to take in Savannah, Charleston, and a bit of Pogo coastal Georgia, though Jessup is better for the latter and filled to the brim with charming kooks.
Great Melville quote. According to the most intelligent person I've ever known, which is a burden, the very best way to read Moby Dick is a paragraph a day. She occasionally had to go to sea alone for similar reasons. She once taught herself fluent German in six weeks. She got a sailboat and learned to navigate by the stars, testing herself with old equipment.
Poor guy, having his debut fouled this way.
I can see if someone was fucked in the head he might be triggered by a cocked hat.
Very troubling. The Cardinals manager doesn’t know the difference between a hat and a cap. And “my field” reveals his insecurity. I remember when the Cardinals were a formidable organization. But 2 division titles in the last 10 seasons sucks. And one playoff series win in the last decade blows.
Marmol’s failure to mention Max Patkin rankles. Max popularized the rakish-angle bill style.
Then the ump made a wrong call on a tag out at home to piss off the Cardinals even more. The call had to stand due to lack of challenges.
The hat is part of something called a “UNIFORM”. How you wear something can be every bit as relevant as what it is.
The purpose of a baseball hat is to shield your eyes from the sun. Wearing one sideways (or backwards) interferes with the purpose.
The purpose of wearing it differently is to say “LOOK AT ME!”
I am special - not uniform. This also explains the quest for bizarre hair styles.
He’ll, I’m still not cool with wearing the knickers down to the ankle. Or making the uniforms more colorful - White at home - grey on the road. Probably all started with the showy assholes in NY who decided to add pinstripes.
When I coached youth baseball, I always told kids to straighten their hats. It's called a uniform for a reason. Also, no chanting in the dugout. I despise chanting (which is a key tool of activists, protestors, community organizers & other simple minded people).
Of course you did! The MAGA-base, ladies and gentlemen. Grown men who identify as Karens!
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