“Baseball is Being Ruined”: Angry MLB Fans Vent as Los Angeles Dodgers Fans’ Kind Gesture For Ex-Superstar Lands Him in Trouble

Once upon a time, Los Angeles Dodgers fans thought they would have Cody Bellinger forever. The center fielder thought the same as he gave a stellar performance with the team year after year. However, the 2021 and 2022 seasons brought things down a notch after Bellinger’s performance suffered due to injuries. In December last year, the 27-year-old signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs. But the Dodgers never forgot him.

After all, Bellinger broke several franchise home run records and helped take his team to the 2018 World Series. Even if they didn’t win, Bellinger’s efforts did not go unnoticed by fans, and then the Dodgers finally won the championship after 32 long years. So when the Dodgers and the first baseman parted ways, it was a bittersweet moment for everyone. After all, Bellinger might make an appearance at Dodger Stadium again, only this time, he would be playing on a different team.

Los Angeles Dodgers fans greeted Cody Bellinger with a standing ovation but…

… things went wrong immediately. April 14, 2023, was the day Bellinger came back to Dodger Stadium, just with different teammates. But fans still remembered him and as soon as he stepped up to the plate, they gave him a standing ovation. Bellinger had just acknowledged the tremendous gesture and was getting himself settled onto the plate when it happened.

The home plate umpire, Jim Wolf, gave him a pitch clock violation. The heartfelt moment between Dodgers fans and an ex-player got interrupted because of MLB’s new rules. Or was it the umpire’s fault? The commentator certainly thought so. After describing how the stadium played a highlight of Bellinger’s career with the LA team, he realized that Wolf had just given the first baseman a pitch clock violation.

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“Come on Jim, read the room,” he said on national television.

Fans had similar thoughts and reacted negatively to the latest umpire blunder

Baseball fans have recently been lashing out at umpires after supposedly wrong calls cost games to their favorite teams. This situation was no different.

Some fans reiterated what the commentator said.

Some pointed out how important the tradition of an ovation is to fans as well as players. One fan, although in favor of the pitch clock, ruled the umpire’s call unnecessary.

Some had words of criticism for the umpire.

https://twitter.com/t_hopkins98/status/1647093670909210624?s=20

What did you think? Did Wolf make the right call or could he have bent the rules a little, just this once?

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