DENVER — Bob Melvin entered the company of Earl Weaver, the legendarily hot-headed manager, when he was ejected Sunday before the start of the Giants’ series finale against the Rockies.
Accompanying bench coach Ryan Christianson for the lineup card exchange at home plate, Melvin proceeded to give a piece of his mind to the umpiring crew led by crew chief Chris Conroy and was tossed, matching Weaver for the earliest ejection in MLB history.
Bob Melvin was ejected right before the game started after appearing to argue with the umpiring crew pic.twitter.com/UfSpSmq8AD
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 21, 2024
The ejection was Melvin’s fourth of the season and the 63rd of his career, 16th all-time. Weaver ranks fourth but racked up his 96 ejections in only 17 seasons leading the Orioles from 1968-82 and 1985-86. He was ejected by Ron Luciano while exchanging lineup cards before the second game of a doubleheader against Texas on Aug. 15, 1975, still upset over a call that led to his getting tossed in the fourth inning of the opener.
While rare, they are not the only instances of pregame ejections. In fact, Giants pitching coach Bryan Price was tossed by Jim Reynolds during the lineup card exchange on May 23, 2015, when he was managing the Reds, while griping about calls from the previous day’s game.
Melvin repeatedly expressed his displeasure in the umpiring over the first two games of the series, both from the dugout steps and in postgame interviews.
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The hit-by-pitch that put Elias Díaz on base ahead of the Rockies’ two-run home run Friday night Melvin said was a “phantom hit-by-pitch” and that “I haven’t seen an umpire talk a guy into going to first base on a hit-by-pitch, either,” when “the guy is trying to argue that he didn’t get hit by a pitch.”
The same game, Conroy, serving as the first-base umpire, failed to get out of the way of a line drive down the foul line, turning a potential extra-base RBI hit from Brett Wisely into an inning-ending out.
Melvin and Logan Webb both complained about the strike zone, and according to the unofficial Umpire Scorecard Conroy missed 19 ball-strike calls Saturday night that favored the Rockies by 0.32 runs, while Brian O’Nora missed 15 ball-strike calls Friday night that favored the Rockies by 0.74 runs.
The Giants lost both of the first two games of the series, starting the second half in disappointing fashion and possibly adding to Melvin’s frustration.
Immediately after Melvin’s ejection, Jorge Soler slugged a leadoff home run that gave the Giants an early 1-0 lead.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
