There were some Memorial Day fireworks at Comerica Park in Detroit – during a ball game.
Tigers shortstop Javier Baez had to be restrained by teammates after being ejected by umpire Phil Cuzzi following a controversial called third strike.
The incident occurred in the fifth inning of Monday’s game against the San Francisco Giants. Baez, the leadoff hitter in the inning, took a full-count curveball from Giants pitcher Hayden Birdsong that appeared to be well below the strike zone. However, Cuzzi called the pitch, ringing up Baez for the first out of the inning.
The two-time all-star did not take the call well, quickly getting in Cuzzi’s face and arguing the decision. After Baez finished his tirade and turned to walk back to the dugout, the umpire ejected him from the game, kicking off another big scene.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch arrived at the plate to argue his player’s case while third base coach Joey Cora and teammate Gleyber Torres had to restrain Baez, who became furious.
Baez was seen trying to push past Cora and Torres and swung his helmet around before it fell to the ground.
“Javy Baez is incensed. I don’t know what was said, but Javy is livid,” one of the Tigers’ broadcasters said during the incident. “A.J. Hinch was one step away, but Phil Cuzzi threw out Javy Baez and Javy’s going to leave this game.”
Baez fumed to reporters after the game, saying that he only told Cuzzi that the pitch wasn’t “a f***ing strike.”
“That’s the only thing I said. And then he said, ‘Don’t point at it. Walk out.’ And then I said, ‘What do you mean, walk out? I’m asking you something,’ and then he just threw me out,” Baez said, according to Evan Petzoid of the Detroit Free Press.
Baez also insisted that his incensed reaction wasn’t over the strike call, but rather the way Cuzzi dismissively spoke to him during their exchange.
“It’s not even about the call. It’s about how he treated me,” Baez said. “I’m not an animal. We can talk. We can argue. And that’s it. If he would’ve told me, ‘OK, I missed it,’ I would’ve f***ing shut up. I know he’s not perfect, but don’t treat me like that.”
In his fourth season with the Tigers, Baez rose to fame during his time with the Chicago Cubs, with whom he won a World Series in 2016. Baez also won a gold glove and a silver slugger award with the Cubs before being dealt to the New York Mets at the 2021 trade deadline. He then signed with Detroit in late 2021 as a free agent.