Red Sox's Alex Verdugo Calls Out Umpire For Being 'Soft' After Ejection

Boston has been incredibly frustrated with the umpires lately

Scott Neville | Aug 23, 2023

Red Sox's Alex Verdugo Calls Out Umpire For Being 'Soft' After Ejection /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are taking a play from their historical rivals as of late -- getting ejected at a rate New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone would be proud of.

Not long before manager Alex Cora was ejected for the second time in a three-game span, outfielder Alex Verdugo was ejected in a strange fashion against the Houston Astros on Tuesday.

The right fielder was tossed for chirping at the umpire from the dugout, which is not only rare but almost always accompanied by a warning. Verdugo received no such thing and went on a rant after the game.

“I’m not at home plate,” Verdugo told reporters, as transcribed by MassLive's Christopher Smith. “I’m sitting on the bench. Like so many people don’t know what happened. That’s why it was frustrating. You’ve got to give a warning and to me, he was being soft.”

“It is what it is, man,” Verdugo continued. “It’s one of those things -- I feel like personally umpires are protected too much, especially with that. It’s part of their job to be good. And I understand the human error aspect of it and you’re not going to get every call. But don’t be so sensitive when we let you know our side of it. You know what I mean? That’s baseball. Have a little bit of tougher skin and deal with it.”

Verdugo did not directly answer when asked what he said to get tossed but said it was "just chirping" and clearly did not feel like he went over the line.

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Published Aug 23, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu