Watch: José Altuve Gets Ejected for Wild Shoeless Moment

The Houston Astros had a wacky extra innings victory over the San Diego Padres during which their superstar was ejected in the 9th inning.

Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros claimed a 4-3 extra inning victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night which put them ahead of Seattle by five games in the AL West, but the victory did not come in any sort of ordinary fashion.

In the top of the 9th inning while the game was still tied, star second baseman José Altuve came up to bat with a runner on second base and two outs. With a 1-1 count, Altuve hit a ball that appeared to bounce off his foot, making it a foul ball, but the umpires did not see it and ruled the ball fair which would result in an easy groundout to third base to end the inning and send the game into the bottom of the ninth.

The ball off the foot was so apparent that even the announcers in the booth originally called it as a foul ball before realizing that it was being ruled as a live ball.

Naturally, both manager Joe Espada as well as Altuve immediately began arguing with the umpire over the call. What happened next was certainly a first for all parties involved:

Jose Altuve took off his sock and cleat to show the ump that he fouled this ball off his foot

He was promptly ejected pic.twitter.com/wtGGsdWdyL

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) September 18, 2024

Altuve took off both his cleat and his sock to point out to the umpire where the ball struck his foot, a move that would end in the veteran being ejected from the game in what was a tie ballgame at the time and wound up going to a decisive extra 10th inning.

The story would have a happy ending for the Astros however, as Altuve's replacement Grae Kessinger would come into the game and score as the ghost runner in the top half of the 10th inning, thenmake the game-winning defensive play at second base in the bottom half with Manny Machado up to bat and the bases loaded and the lead sitting at just one.

While it was a rather unremarkable night for Altuve at the plate, going 1 for 5 with a bunt single all the way back in the first inning, it certainly won't be an evening that he, nor the umpire, will be forgetting anytime soon.