Ex-Cardinal Kyle Gibson Slams Doug Eddings Over Hat Controversy

Kyle Gibson weighed in on the Hancel Rincon hat controversy.

Sep 7, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson (44) acknowledges fans while walking to the dugout after being pulled in the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Right-hander Hancel Rincon made his major league debut for the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend at Coors Field. However, what should have been a moment of pure joy turned sour when umpire Doug Eddings caused a stir over the way Rincon was wearing his hat.

Eddings told Rincon to fix his hat, which prompted an argument from Oli Marmol, and to make matters worse, he called a pitch clock violation on Justin Bruihl and missed a key call at home plate, leading to Marmol being ejected.

Across the MLB world, players have shown their support for Rincon, and the Cardinals even poked fun at Eddings by wearing their hats sideways the next day. On the Cardinal Territory podcast, former pitcher Kyle Gibson called out Eddings for his actions and advocated for some punishment to be levied his way.

Kyle Gibson slams Doug Eddings

May 10, 2025; Anaheim, California, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Kyle Gibson (48) throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"Very, very weird way for Doug Eddings to approach it that way, very much of a power trip way when he says 'this is my field,"' Gibson said. "Even worse that he makes up a story to pin this on somebody else and not just be his deal. If there's a situation where MLB can reel this in and show a little bit of support with the players and work together, there needs to be a penalty here in my mind. He took it too far and lied to the media. That can't happen."

Gibson is of course referring to Eddings' apology to Rincon the following day, but also the way that he tried to pin the situation on Hunter Goodman and say that he had complained about the hat. Goodman denied having said anything to Eddings.

The situation appears to be blowing over, but there comes a point where umpires can take things a little too far, and such was the case with Eddings. The way a player wears his hat should be one of the last things anybody worries about when a baseball game is going on.

Fans don't show up to games to watch umpires enforce their own rules. They come to see their favorite teams play and cheer for them. Eddings made the situation all about himself, and Gibson clearly sees the problem with the way he handled himself in Denver.

It will be interesting to see if MLB reviews this and ultimately comes down with some punishment for Eddings over his actions.