Clint Lamb
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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is an unpopular figure. He issued the Houston Astros almost no punishment after they were caught stealing signs, and he moved the All-Star Game out of Atlanta, among a number of absurd decisions. And now, his friends in the industry are few and far between.
Most recently, he handed down a two-game suspension to Nick Castellanos, the popular slugger with the Cincinnati Reds, for “instigating a benches-clearing incident” against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The suspension was questionable, but Castellanos got his revenge on Manfred on Sunday — and he didn’t even have to say a word. Instead, he let a fan handle it. A fan wearing a Cincinnati Reds jersey was down on the field with Castellanos, and the two exchanged a fist bump. Why? Well, the commentator probably regrets asking that question.
“So, I told Nick when he got up there that he should imagine that Rob Manfred’s face was on the baseball,” the fan said. “And the next pitch, he lit it up over the fence, baby.”
Meanwhile, Castellanos took a cross arms and stare pose to drive the point home. Epic.
And here’s the best part. Castellanos wasn’t the one who took the shot, so players have now found a loophole for criticizing the commissioner: launder it through fans!
Check this out.
Nick Castellanos is a damn LEGEND for this. He’ll still get suspended even though he didn’t say a word. And we will not allow that to stand. pic.twitter.com/5NK1L3N5NO
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) May 16, 2021
The commentator for Bally Sports in Ohio didn’t know how to react, as he realized that the ploy had been executed perfectly. In fact, the entire exchange was fantastic.
I know for a fact there are a few readers who are more than happy to hear Manfred get dragged through the mud. To help these readers share their feelings publicly, OutKick now offers ‘Fire Manfred’ T-Shirts. Click here and make your frustrations with the MLB commissioner known!
Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.
Lots of people would like to imagine seeing Manfred’s face being hit out of a ballpark
Another democrat race baiting hack
Epic! Womanfred will probably find a reason to suspend him. What a twit. These owners need to wake up.
Isn’t it amazing how much incompetence exists is such positions of power like in politics or MLB commissioner, etc? I really feel like the majority in these positions are, at best, below average. At BEST. What the hell does it take to reach these positions of power? Who do you have to blow? I don’t get it man
This is a good point. It’s really pretty crazy the level of staggering incompetence at such high levels in sports (and other industries). Mark Emmert of NCAA, lots of conference commissioners across college sports, Goodell, Manfred, Silver, etc. So many of these guys are complete hacks.
Literally, all you have to do as a commissioner is get out of the way and not screw it up. Apparently that’s asking a lot.
To clarify, the commentator was Jim Day, and the hesitation on his part was probably due to his career flashing before his eyes if that fan said anything out of line on live TV.
The Reds also recently got another bizarre smack down by MLB when pitcher Amir Garrett received a 7 day suspension (reduced to 5) plus a dollar fine for yelling/exclaming (or whatever the modern player does these days) towards his catcher; Baez of the Cubs took exception and jumped the dugout railing onto the field and had to be constrained from charging the mound. Seriously, Garrett took the brunt of the penalties, for “inciting”. Garrett just got back yesterday.
Manfred is a turd… literally.
Clint Lamb, you write good articles, but just like the rest of the sports media, you show your bias.
You guys continue to remind us about the Astros, but you guys always fail to give the same negative coverage towards the cheating ass Red Sox and the Yankees.
Why haven’t the league released the latest Yankees report to which the Yankees are fighting to not have it released.
Manfred didn’t punish any Red Sox players either. Cora got fired and then was rehired, who was the common denominator between the Red Sox and Astros.