The home crowd at Nationals Park got a show during Thursday's home game vs. the Diamondbacks — partly because there were so few of them in attendance.
Nationals manager Dave Martinez was ejected in the fifth inning, prompting an epic tirade against home plate umpire Doug Eddings. The issues began when Eddings (correctly) called a ball after Jake Irvin's pitch sank below the strike zone.
That incited chirping from Washington's dugout, which didn't appreciate that a similar pitch resulted in a strikeout by CJ Abrams in the bottom of the fourth inning. Eddings was quick to quash the chirping by saying, "Really? We're going to go there? Huh?" Retorted Martinez: "I didn't say s—."
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Eddings told Martinez to control his dugout, leading to a routine argument. The Washington manager headed back to his dugout with no harm done — until he suggested to Eddings to "get it f—ing right." The umpire quickly ejected Martinez, who decided to drive his point home by lying in the dirt to argue a called ball.
To be fair, the veteran umpire did give fair warning that he could hear what players were saying earlier in the game (though he issued the warning to Arizona's dugout).
Quipped Eddings: "Remember, there's not a lot of fans here and I can hear everything you're saying."
All part of the charm of baseball — from T-ball all the way to MLB.