Fastball

Miami Marlins Manager Goes Viral Right Before Historic Shohei Ohtani Home Run

Right before he hit his historic 50th home run of the season on Thursday, the cameras got a look at Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker in the dugout.

Brady Farkas

Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker (45) hits ground balls during batting practice before a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Sept 10.
Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker (45) hits ground balls during batting practice before a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Sept 10. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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On Thursday, Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani became the first player ever to record 50 homers and 50 steals in the same baseball season.

It's a truly incredible year from a truly incredible player, and one that will be talked about and analyzed as long as the game is played.

However, fans who enjoyed the accomplishment have to tip their hat to Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, who elected to pitch to Ohtani in the seventh inning despite a base being open.

When Ohtani came to the plate with an 11-3 lead in the seventh, the Dodgers television cameras panned to Schumaker to see if he would hold up the "FOUR" fingers signifying an intentional walk. What they got instead was a NSFW lip reading of Schumaker saying he wouldn't do that.

Be aware, the text and lip-reading in the following Twitter post is not advised for some readers.

I misquoted him. The full quote:

“F*ck that. I’ve got too much respect for this guy for that sh*t to happen.”

Schumaker is well-regarded as a good manager despite the Marlins horrific 56-97 record. Miami's issues this year are more about injuries to pichers like Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez, Jesus Luzardo and Braxton Garrett than they are him. Schumaker is a free agent at the end of the year and should have a robust market among teams looking for a new skipper. He helped get the Marlins to the playoffs just last season.

As a player, Schumaker spent 11 years in the big leagues with the Cardinals, Dodgers and Reds. He helped the Cardinals win the 2006 World Series and was a lifetime .278 hitter. He also posted a career .337 on-base percentage, hit 28 home runs and stole 26 bases.

The Marlins will battle the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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