The Minnesota Twins were swept by the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night. They came into the week leading the AL Central by one game, but they are now two games behind the Royals for first place. Twins' outfielder Torii Hunter added to that strife by getting ejected last night.
Hunter and manager Paul Molitor were sent off in the eighth inning by home-plate umpire Mark Ripperger after arguing balls and strikes. Hunter, who finished the night 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, was upset with two of the strikes called by Ripperger during his final at-bat. One appeared to be a little high and the one that rung Hunter up was a bit too outside for his liking.
"I thought it was a ball. The pitch before that I thought it was a little up and he called it a strike," Hunter told Betsy Helfand of MLB.com. "That's fine, but I thought the last pitch he called a strike was revenge because I said something the pitch before."
He immediately began arguing with Ripperger after the call and was ejected within seconds. Molitor then came running out of the dugout to plead Hunter's case and he was also ejected immediately. What transpired next was certainly a sight for the fans.
Hunter, who was still clearly upset with the umpires, took off his helmet and shin guard, placing them gently next to his bat on the turf behind home plate. He then proceeded to take off his batting gloves and jersey and hurl them toward the field. His jersey made it to the first base foul line, while the batting gloves actually went in the opposite direction. Take a look at the video below:
This isn't the first issue Hunter has had with the league's home-plate umpires. On Opening Day the veteran struck out swinging to end the Twins' 4-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers. Home-plate umpire Joe West called him out on the check swing and refused to confirm the call with the first-base umpire to see if Hunter fully went around. The 39-year-old had some words for West after the game, which you can see below:
And let's not forget about the time Hunter called a reporter a "prick" during his introductory press conference after he signed his one-year, $10.5 million deal with Minnesota in the offseason. The reporter asked Hunter about his previous statements on gay marriage, which, rightfully so, Hunter felt was not appropriate for the current atmosphere.
On top of having a solid season with Minnesota, Hunter has certainly been entertaining in more ways than one.
