Warren Schaeffer tosses cap in wild ejection in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE — Finally, Warren Schaeffer was pushed to his limit.

The Colorado Rockies interim manager was ejected in the top of third inning of Sunday’s game with the Milwaukee Brewers after roaring out of the dugout following the ejection of right fielder Tyler Freeman after protesting following a called third strike.

Freeman was rung up by home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus on three pitches — two of which were called strikes — despite the first pitch appearing to be outside of the strike zone.

Exasperated after the called third strike — which was low but appeared to catch the bottom of the zone — Freeman turned back to De Jesus and said something — but, as Freeman maintained, nothing incendiary.

TYLER FREEMAN ‘VERY SURPRISED’ BY HIS EJECTION THAT BROUGHT WARREN SCHAEFFER OUT

“Very surprised. I didn’t swear. I didn’t really say anything rude. All I said was like, ‘Come on, bro. That’s twice. And he tossed me,'” Freeman said. “And I think I’m more of like, a calm person in general. For him to toss me just didn’t feel right.

“And I think a lot of people can agree, too.”

At that point, Schaeffer exploded from the dugout on the third-base side at American Family Field, spat out his chewing gum and spiked it on the ground, tossed his cap and roared at De Jesus.

“There wasn’t really much of a conversation there,” Schaeffer said. “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.

“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 was ridiculous. That was pretty much the extent of it.”

Eventually he walked toward home plate and gestured as if to show where the called third strike was low.

Schaeffer then walked toward De Jesus and said something in his ear in a calmer tone of voice before returning to the dugout and heading back toward the clubhouse for the remainder of the game.

Interim bench coach Clint Hurdle took over in the dugout for the balance of the contest, which Colorado won, 4-3.

WHY SCHAEFFER SPIKED THE GUM

Throwing the hat on the ground is one thing. You see that from time to time when managers lose their cool.

“When you see your manager turn red and bald and run out there fast, it’ll get you fired up,” said Kyle Farmer, who went 2-for-3 Sunday.

But the spike of the gum? That’s unusual. But it was not for emotional resonance or for show. There was a point to it, as Schaeffer explained.

“It’s intentional,” he said. “Because I’ve spit on an umpire before in my career, and I’ve gotten fined big-time. And I don’t want to do that again. Just make sure I’ve got whatever’s in my mouth out of it.”

PLAYERS APPRECIATED SCHAEFFER’S WILLINGNESS TO STAND UP FOR FREEMAN

It hasn’t come to such a visible moment so far in Schaeffer’s stewardship prior to Sunday, but his action didn’t surprise Freeman or Farmer, both of whom noted the support Schaeffer gives his players — some of whom he worked with as a minor-league manager in the Colorado system.

“He has our backs, more than anything,” Freeman said. “It fired me up to see that — in a good way. It just got the boys going. We ended up winning that game and that’s kind of like — we don’t quit.”

Indeed, Colorado rallied from a 2-0 deficit, tied the game after being down to its final out in the ninth inning, then eked out a win in the 11th inning. The Rockies won their third consecutive Sunday game.

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