Ryan Noda stepped up to the plate during a tough game for Oakland, already trailing big. He saw a curveball first, fouled it off, then got a fastball called for a strike. Noda didn’t agree with the call and used his only allowed timeout, likely just to express frustration. Down 0-2, he watched two more pitches go by to even the count, then chased another outside fastball for strike three. Walking back to the dugout, he casually dragged his bat across the dirt near home plate. The umpire saw it as drawing a line, which is considered showing up the ump and grounds for ejection. Noda didn’t even know he was tossed until the other umpires confirmed it. His confusion made sense—no one else had even noticed the line except for the ump.
There’s some disagreement over what actually happened. Noda claimed he just lowered his bat after the swing. The ump saw it differently, interpreting it as a statement about his strike zone judgment. Even though it wasn’t obvious to fans or opposing players, an umpire only needs to perceive intent to make the ejection call. The whole situation felt like a misunderstanding, but in baseball, optics often matter more than intent. Lastly, the video pointed out inconsistencies in televised strike zone graphics between the A’s and Red Sox broadcasts, showing how the same pitch can look completely different depending on the feed.