Following Brad Ausmus’ outburst in the Detroit Tigers’ 10-8 win over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night, MLB suspended the Detroit manager one game, per MLB.com’s Jason Beck.
Home plate umpire Doug Eddings ejected Ausmus before the top of the fifth inning following a called strikeout of Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos to end the fourth. After arguing with Eddings, Ausmus removed his sweatshirt and placed it on home plate. He also threw his hat as he left the field:
In a statement, Joe Garagiola Jr., MLB’s senior vice president of standards and on-field operations, said the league suspended Ausmus for “excessive arguing” and “inappropriate actions,” per Yahoo Sports’ Big League Stew. MLB also slapped the manager with an undisclosed fine.
The Detroit Free Press‘ Brian J. Manzullo thought the suspension was a bit excessive:
Ausmus’ reaction was likely a result of his frustration with both the umpiring crew and his team’s performance. After scoring eight runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Tigers surrendered seven runs over the next three innings. The Twins tied the game in the top of the seventh before Detroit scored one run in each of the seventh and eighth innings.
After the game, Ausmus offered his side of the story, per Beck and Chris Vannini of MLB.com:
There was a culmination of a lot of things. There were some defensive miscues. There were some unbelievably unfortunate dribblers. One hit the base at second. As far as the blowup, there comes a point when you get seven or eight guys coming back from home plate complaining about the strike zone, they can’t all be wrong.
Ausmus is also dealing with the weight of unfulfilled expectations. Entering Tuesday, the Tigers were fourth in the American League Central with a 17-21 record. Detroit is paying Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander a combined $56 million in 2016, per Spotrac, and signed big-name free agents Jordan Zimmermann and Justin Upton in the offseason. Anything short of a playoff appearance will be a disappointment for the Tigers.
On May 10, Ausmus acknowledged he’s “in the crosshairs” with his job security, per ESPN.com’s Katie Strang. Every game could have an impact on his future with the team, so it’s not hard to see why the 47-year-old reacted the way he did Monday.
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