Baseball umpires are sometimes known to have control issues, but it has rarely been taken to the level Doug Eddings took it on Friday night when the St. Louis Cardinals visited the Colorado Rockies.
Eddings stopped play in the sixth inning when he appeared to tell Hancel Rincón, making his Major League Baseball debut, to straighten his hat while pitching on the mound. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol went to talk to Eddings about his power trip, and the Cardinals were given a pitch clock violation. Marmol then got ejected for his troubles.
In the same inning, Eddings then made what looked to be a bad call at the plate with the Cardinals out of challenges to allow the go-ahead run.
Umpire Doug Eddings went on a power trip during the bottom of the 6th in the Cardinals Rockies game.
First, he demanded that pitcher Hancel Rincon (in his MLB debut) straighten his hat since no one will wear a hat like that on “his field”.
When manager Oli Marmol went to talk… pic.twitter.com/ei4rCAalxq
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) September 5, 2026
That led Cardinals announcers Chip Caray and Brad Thompson to tell Eddings to stick to his job and not be the uniform police when discussing the situation in the next inning.
Talk your shit Brad let’s go!!! @awfulannouncing you gotta see this bs pic.twitter.com/desk0AvTKA
— Carter Fogarty (@carterfogarty24) September 5, 2026
“If that’s in fact what happened, if Doug Eddings behind the plate was telling Rincón to fix his hat, that is a flat-out embarrassment. That is not his job to do. He’s not wearing his hat backwards. This was not a uniform violation. This was a guy just wearing his hat the way that he wears his hat, if in fact that’s what happened,” Thompson said.
“And if that’s what happened, how come nobody says anything to Jazz Chisholm?” Caray asked.
“If that’s the case, that’s a joke,” the play-by-play man concluded. “Sometimes umpires think it’s their game, their field. It’s not. They’re the officials, they’re in charge, but it’s the players’ game, I thought.”
After the game, Marmol confirmed that’s exactly what happened and called Eddings’ behavior “embarrassing” and “stupid.”
Oli Marmol called it “embarrassing” the way Doug Eddings handled the situation.
“He tells him that he needs to fix his hat during an at-bat, and the kid’s not wearing his hat like that on my field. Last I checked, this was Coors Field.” https://t.co/207rzjuCIq pic.twitter.com/vuZcLZ4veX
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) September 5, 2026
Back to the game, all’s well that ended well for the Cardinals. Iván Herrera hit a three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to secure a 7-6 comeback victory. And after the win was closed out, Caray had a message to send to the home plate umpire.
“They were DOUG a hole, but it’s a happy EDDINGS in Colorado”
Chip Caray – Professional #stlcards pic.twitter.com/OpfOdOoURE
— bill durham (@BDurhamSports) September 5, 2026
“They were Doug a hole, but it’s a happy Eddings in Colorado. The Cardinals take Game 1 at Coors Field,” Caray said with just a hint of irony.
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