Rockies Interim Manager Warren Schaeffer Went Wild for First Career Ejection

Warren Schaeffer played the hits to earn himself an ejection.
Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer in the process of getting ejected.
Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer in the process of getting ejected. / @DNVR_Rockies
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It has not been a fun season for the Colorado Rockies.

Roughly halfway through the MLB season, the Rockies have just 19 wins on the year, and somehow, that’s actually a pretty solid improvement from where they were a month ago. With 33.5 games between them and the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, it feels safe to say that the postseason is not in the cards this year.

Still, the Rockies are finding memorable moments, and on Sunday afternoon secured what at this point of the year should qualify as a highlight for the team.

Interim manager Warren Schaeffer earned the first ejection of his managerial career in just the third inning of Sunday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Schaeffer jumped out of the dugout after right fielder Tyler Freeman was ejected for what looked like a pretty tame critique of home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus.

Schaeffer would follow Freeman with speed, but not before getting in some solid work, including slamming his gum into the dirt and getting low to show De Jesus just how low the pitch he called a strike was.

"I didn't swear. I didn't really say anything rude,” Freeman said after the game, per MLB. “All I said was like, 'Come on, bro. That's twice,' and he tossed me. I think I'm kind of more of a calm person anyways, in general, and for him to toss me just didn't feel right.”

Schaeffer said that the speed with which De Jesus threw Freeman out was what drove him off the wall.

"I just didn't like the fact that he got rid of Freeman so quick after Freeman didn't cuss at him, didn't show him up, didn't do anything to him,” Schaeffer said.

“I like Ramon, but that was way too quick to get rid of Freeman. Way too quick. One of our best players, in the third inning? That's ridiculous.”

While losing a player and your manager less than three innings into a game is not necessarily a wise strategy, it worked out for the Rockies on Sunday, as they went on to beat the Brewers 4–3 in 11 innings.


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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.