Torii Hunter tears off jersey in epic meltdown following ejection
We have a new contender for on-field meltdown of the year.
Minnesota Twins outfielder Torii Hunter went a little haywire after being called out on strikes by home plate umpire Mark Ripperger during the eighth inning of Wednesday’s 7-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals.
Hunter first appeared displeased by Ripperger’s strike two call, which in all honesty appeared to a pinpoint strike from Royals reliever Luke Hochevar. The strike three pitch was a fastball that appeared to be tail off the plate by several inches, to which Hunter immediately responded by confronting Ripperger behind the plate.
Though face-to-face, the conversation didn’t seem particularly heated at first. It just carried on a little too long, which drew the ejection of Hunter and brought out manager Paul Molitor, who was ejected much more quickly.
That’s when Hunter really started getting fired up and had to be restrained by Molitor and crew chief Brian O’Nora. At one point, Hunter put his left forearm into O’Nora’s chest but didn’t really extend, so it’ll be interesting to see how that’s viewed by the league.
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What followed was the meat of the meltdown, which saw Hunter rip off his elbow pad and shin guard and send them flying toward home plate. Then came the batting gloves. And finally the jersey, which drew the loudest roar of the event.
Despite wearing a perfectly good undershirt that could have been ripped off and thrown in the pile, Hunter elected to call it a night, disappearing into the clubhouse to end this meltdown at its peak. If we were judging on points, that would have scored big because we too often see these meltdowns overstay their welcome.
Knowing when to exit is a fine detail Hunter mastered here. He said his piece verbally, made a straight forward follow up statement and then vanished into the night. Overall, the incident didn’t last more than 90 seconds.
As we noted though, there was some minor physical contact with O’Nora, but it wouldn’t seem Hunter would be hit with more than a fine. That is unless the league wants to crack down on any contact with the umpires, in which case Hunter may face a one-game suspension like that given to Joey Votto earlier this season.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
