Gone before the party started.
On Sunday, San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin was ejected in an anomalous manner ahead of their series finale against the Colorado Rockies.
He was tossed following the lineup card exchange at home plate, where he let loose on Chris Conroy and his umpire crew.
“I just talked too much,” Melvin said after the Giants’ 3-2 victory.
“Umpiring’s a hard job, I’m aware of that, just probably said too much. I didn’t plan that, it wasn’t choreographed. I probably went too far.”
It marks his 63rd ejection of his career – ranking him 16th all-time for ejections – and was his fourth of the season.
Through the first two games – which the Giants both lost – Melvin had already conveyed his irritations, whether it was hollering from the dugout or during interviews.
During Friday’s 7-3 loss, in the bottom of the sixth, Rockies catcher Elías Díaz was hit by a pitch before Brenton Doyle crushed the ball 434 feet for a two-run homer.
Melvin adamantly claimed it was a “phantom hit-by-pitch.”
“I haven’t seen an umpire talk a guy into going to first base on a hit-by-pitch, either,” he said.
“The guy is trying to argue that he didn’t get hit by a pitch.”
Moreover, Melvin also made history – joining former short-fused Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver – for the earliest MLB ejection in history.
In a doubleheader against the Texas Rangers on August 15, 1975 – while changing lineup cards prior to the game – Weaver was ejected by Ron Luciano. He was flustered and stuck up over a call in the fourth inning of the series opener.
Weaver collected 96 ejections in 17 seasons while guiding the Orioles from 1968-82 and again in 1985-86.
While calamity leading to pregame ejections are uncommon, Giants pitching coach Bryan Price was also shown the door by Jim Reynolds during the lineup card exchange on May 23, 2015.
At the time, he was managing the Cincinnati Reds and was complaining about calls from a game that took place a day prior.