Willson Contreras gets ejected for something he claims he never said, a breakdown
What Happened
In a close game in the bottom of the seventh inning at Busch Stadium, Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras steps to the plate against Cleveland Guardians pitcher Triston McKenzie. The score is tight, with both teams vying for the win. Contreras takes the first pitch, a nasty slider that dives out of the strike zone. He doesn't like the call, giving the umpire, Jordan Baker, a slight nod. The next pitch is a fastball down the middle that Contreras swings through, making it 0-2 in the count. Expecting another breaking ball, Contreras lays off the pitch, working the count full. McKenzie then fires a fastball straight down the middle, which Contreras takes for strike three. As Contreras walks away, he appears to say something to Umpire Baker, who then immediately ejects him from the game. Contreras is stunned, protesting that he did not say anything offensive. "You told me to fuck off," Baker says. "No, I did not," Contreras insists. The argument escalates, with Contreras telling the umpire to "fuck off" multiple times. He then angrily tosses his helmet at Baker's feet before being escorted off the field. As Contreras heads to the dugout, he turns and accidentally hits Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly in the chin with his bat. It's an unfortunate moment in the heated exchange. In the post-game interview, Contreras maintains that he did not argue any pitches and only told the umpire to "call it both ways," which he claims is not the same as arguing. However, the video appears to show Contreras saying the controversial phrase, even if it was not directed at the umpire. It's a tense and dramatic scene, with emotions running high in this close game between the Cubs and Guardians. Contreras' ejection and subsequent actions have certainly added some extra drama to this Midwestern matchup.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentIt's a close ball game in the bottom of the seventh in St. Louis.
We've got Ramirez on the bump lick.
We've got Contreras at the dish focused.
It's brought to you by DraftKings.
First pitch of the at bat here in the bottom of the seventh inning.
A little inside cutter breaking ball thing for a strike.
He likes it.
He doesn't like it.
I think he doesn't like it.
He kind of just gave the umpire a nod, but I think he didn't like it.
Follows it up with a nasty slider.
That pitch is nasty.
Watch this.
It's coming in the zone.
It's going to be in the zone.
Yep.
I'm going to line up and swing at that.
Oh, my goodness.
It's gone.
The catcher even had to jerk for it.
That's a nice pitch.
Now it's 0-2, and he just chased a breaking ball.
So I would guess he's thinking they're going to try and throw another breaking ball.
Waste one.
I'm not going to fall for that.
I'm not chasing again.
Fastball right down the middle.
Strike three.
He walks away.
Says something to the umpire, but just walks away.
Says another thing to the umpire.
Umpire says, you're out of here.
Almost, you know, next batter thinks he's throwing hands at him.
And Travers is like, what did I do?
Why'd you throw me out?
He says, you told me to fuck off.
You told me to fuck off.
No, I didn't.
No, I did not.
You told me to fuck off.
I did not.
Yes, you did.
Yes, you did.
Well, now fuck off.
Now I said that.
Fuck off.
Fuck off.
Huh?
Yeah, now I'm saying it.
Hold me back.
Hold me back.
Fuck off.
Tosses the helmet at the feet of umpire Jordan Baker,
who came in the middle to play bouncer.
And he just kind of looks at it like, noted.
Equipment fine.
How about it?
Meanwhile, they get Contreras out of there.
He says, now I said that.
Fuck off, bitch.
Fuck off.
Yeah.
And then he's going to turn and he's going to throw his bat
right in his coach's face.
And bam, in the chin.
Oh, that stinks for that coach.
He's just kind of like, uh, well, I'm kind of on your guy's side now.
He told me to fuck off, Ollie.
Yes, he did.
No, he didn't.
He's probably just, you're out of here.
So he gets ejected to the woman in the back.
Liked it.
Umpires like, I, I'm just going to go blank brain.
I'm not going to listen to this anymore.
Just chew my gum.
Look around, but I'm done.
Done with everybody here.
Marmal walks back to the dugout.
He protect, he didn't protect this guy.
He got ejected.
Contreras walks back to the dugout and a new thing.
Everyone's getting in on it.
You got to throw the gum bucket.
You just have to.
It seems that seems to be the new fad.
We've seen it before, but it's really ramping up.
It's really ramping up.
Meanwhile, the ball boys do a great job picking up all the gum,
the warheads, the high shoes.
Congratulations.
And thank yous to Zach and Ethan for just,
uh,
great job picking up the garbage.
And afterwards they asked Contreras about it.
And this is what he said.
I didn't argue any pitch in any about,
I didn't argue any pitch in my last about the only thing I said was go to
pitch a ball side because you're missing for us.
That's it.
And then I turn around the next thing I hear like he threw me out.
He has no reason for it.
Apparently here's something that I said, I did not say that.
And then after that, I'll just leave it at that.
He says, I did not say that.
He didn't argue any pitch at all, but he did say, call it both ways,
which some could think is arguing,
but you'd be of a different mindset than Contreras who says that's not
arguing.
He's just telling him to call it both ways.
The first pitch is the only one he could possibly complain about.
Uh,
there were other pitches in this at bat,
like his teammates that didn't get calls that they wanted.
So maybe he's doing that,
but who knows if he's told him the fuck off or not.
I have this shot.
It's kind of big foot footage.
I zoomed in.
I zoomed in so much and it does look like he says the word off at the end.
Like here, he just looked off, but that could be anything off.
And it also could be that ball's fucking off.
And then the umpire heard it as fuck off.
Nice pitch on that final pitch.
The two seam though, just frozen.
They call that pitching backwards, breaking ball, breaking ball, fastball.
Look at the overlay of the pitches.
Boom.
Kind of trippy when you watch it on full speed,
but one goes straight and then comes,
back towards them and the other is slower and wildly breaks away.
And that's the conclusion of the video in which Contreras got ejected and told
the umpire, I didn't say it,
but now I will.
And then hit his own coach in the face with a bat.
And this one was brought to you by draft Kings.
Bye.