- A’s hitting coach Chris Cron was ejected after Royals pitcher Michael Wacha immediately pitched after his chain broke.
- Wacha stuffed his broken chain, then pitched to Carlos Cortes without engaging him, sparking Cron’s fury.
- Home plate umpire John Libka delivered an animated dismissal.
This chain reaction left one A’s coach furious and ejected.
Hitting coach Chris Cron earned an early visit to the showers after voicing his displeasure that Royals starter Michael Wacha immediately went from putting a broken chain into his pocket to throwing a pitch to Carlos Cortes in the first inning of the A’s 5-2 road win Wednesday night.
Wacha and Cortes did not engage before the offering, which the left fielder took for a strike.
Moments later, home plate umpire John Libka provided an early candidate for ejection of the year.
“I’m not listening to you, not you,” an animated Libka said before an animated dismissal. “Get out of here.”
While the broadcast did not capture what Cron said to be ejected, it’s fair to assume he thought the umpire let Wacha essentially fast pitch Cortes.
Moments before throwing the pitch to start the at-bat, Wacha grabbed his chain, realized it had snapped and then stuffed it in his back pocket.
Wacha seamlessly then stepped to the rubber, began his delivery and fired a strike while Cortes stood there with no intention of swinging.
“How about that,” A’s broadcaster Dallas Braden said. “All in one foul swoop. Michael Wacha gonna put the chain in his back pocket…”
Pitchers and batters are supposed to engage before a pitch to avoid such awkward situations and it seemed that Wacha did not do so.
He did not have to worry about a balk in this case due to the bases being empty.
Right after the pitch, Libka looked to the A’s dugout while voices could be heard and he then ejected the hitting coach with the Royals ahead, 1-0.
Manager Mark Kotsay pointed to himself to ask if he had been sent before clarifying with Libka.
“What (Cron) is upset about is the fact that Cortes was standing in the box and then he waited because Wacha was clearly dealing with an issue, dealing with something, didn’t step off and all in one motion took the chain off, put it in his back pocket and then stepped right into his windup, delivery and came home,” Braden said. “At no point was Cortes engaged after Wacha decide to get the motion going.”
Cortes ultimately walked in the inning before Wacha stranded him, and the A’s tied the game in the second inning before scoring three runs in the fourth to grab the lead for good.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
