So I’m sitting here Sunday afternoon watching Pirates vs Braves, right? Had my laptop open doing some research for my baseball history project. Then bam – Derek Shelton just explodes at third base umpire John Libka.

Almost spilled my coffee jumping for the remote rewind button. Gotta save this clip! Saw Pittsburgh’s manager storming onto the field like his cleats were on fire. That man was ready to chew nails.
Okay, deep breath. Started piecing together what kicked this whole mess off:
- First inning: Jared Triolo strikeout call was pure crap. Ball missed the zone by a mile but ump rings him up anyway. Shelton’s already fuming in dugout.
- Third inning: Oneil Cruz steals second CLEARLY before the pitch. Like, not even close. Ump calls him out? Are you blind?
- Fifth inning: Suwinski gets called out looking at ball four. Strike zone’s tighter than my grandma’s purse zipper. Shelton snapped.
Grabbed my tablet to pull up MLB rulebook while replay kept running. Section 6.02(c): managers can’t argue balls/strikes without ejection. But Shelton wasn’t just arguing – he was staging a one-man protest at third base.
Called my buddy Mike who umps Little League games. He laughs: “Managers always get booted when they make it personal. Saw Shelton bumping caps with Libka? That’s automatic ejection material right there.”
Checked three different game recap sites just to be sure I ain’t crazy. Every single one showed the same sequence:

Bad call ➡️ Manager breathes fire ➡️ Umps thin skin ➡️ Everybody kicked out
Typed up my notes shaking my head. Baseball’s got video review for home runs but we’re still letting umps decide games based on ego? Pitchers throw wild pitches less often than umps make these garbage calls lately.
Posted my timeline with all the clips on the forum. Half an hour later, ten guys tagging me with “Derek Shelton did nothing wrong” memes. Tell me something I don’t know, people.