During the eighth inning of Wednesday night’s Marlins vs. Rangers game umpire Gerry Davis asked Texas slugger Adrian Beltre to move into the on-deck circle while he waited for his at-bat. This was reportedly at the request of Marlins pitcher Drew Steckenrider, for some reason. Mind you, the Marlins were UP BY 12 RUNS in a game that ended with Miami winning 22 to 10.
Beltre, who like pretty much EVERY OTHER Major Leaguer, was standing near, but not on the on-deck circle, didn’t want to move so he did the next logical thing and moved the on-deck circle to himself. While hilarious, it didn’t go over too well and Beltre ended up getting ejected from the lopsided affair.
Here’s a look at how far Beltre dragged the circle…
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) July 27, 2017
After the game, Beltre tried to explain his actions…
“I don’t really know,” he said. “The home-plate umpire told me Gerry wanted me to move. I said, ‘Why? I don’t want to get hit. I stand here every day, I’ve been standing here for a lot of years and I’ve been standing here when he was umpiring home plate and he didn’t say nothing. Everybody stands in the same spot. Why do I have to move? I don’t want to get hit.’
“Then the second umpire came down and he told me I need to move. I told Gerry – I have no problem but I don’t want to get hit. I’ve been hit when I stand over there. He said, ‘Well I don’t’ care. You need to be on top of the mat.’ So I pulled the mat where I was at and he threw me out.
“If you see the video, you see everybody standing in the same spot. Why was that a problem today? I’ve been standing in the same spot the whole series.”
Beltre continued: “Why he pick me up? Why’d he need to throw me out? I was not trying to be funny. He told me to stand on the mat, so I pulled the mat where I was. And I stood on. I actually did what he told me.”
