Giolito ejected after words with ump over Strike 3 call originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Lucas Giolito didn’t even pitch Thursday night. But the home-plate umpire had enough of the Chicago White Sox ace.
The home dugout had an emotional reaction to a Strike 3 call on Yoán Moncada that ended the eighth inning.
This Strike 3 call:
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Despite a 4-1 lead, the White Sox weren’t going to let a strike outside the zone fly without letting home-plate umpire Will Little know how they felt about it and rushed to the defense of their hottest hitter.
By the time the ninth inning started moments later, there were still opinions coming from the dugout, and Little gave Giolito the heave-ho.
"He was having some fun, but you can't have it at the expense of the umpires,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said with a grin on his face. “I talked to (crew chief) Greg Gibson … and said he made a mistake. He was just having fun with the umpire. But I said he's a special individual. And I understand a little fun or whatever.
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“I'm not sure what he said, but that's all it was. He was just trying to have fun, and I don't blame him for trying to have some fun. But umpires, they're very careful about listening to complaints."
Lance Lynn, who started Thursday night’s game, provided a bit more insight into what the exchange between Giolito and Little entailed.
“When an umpire tells you to go look at (the call) and you do, and then he throws you out for telling him he was wrong after he told you to look at it, that's kind of a slap in the face,” Lynn said. “He kind of brought it on himself and threw a guy out. Sometimes that happens in this game.
“It's unfortunate because Gio's a good dude. And he got told to go do something and he did it, and the umpire threw him out for doing what he was told to do."
Regardless of the hubbub over the call and the umpire’s reaction to Giolito’s comments, what the moment was was another example of the tightness of this White Sox clubhouse, an example of the willingness of Giolito, a team leader, to stand up for his teammate.
Apparently, it’s nothing new.
Praise for the White Sox clubhouse culture has been flowing for months, and it might end up being the thing that propels them the furthest in their chase for a championship.
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