“It’s best if I don’t talk about it,” David Bell said during his postgame conference. This was in answer to the question of his bizarre ejection during the Cincinnati Reds’ game against the Miami Marlins. While this isn’t a new development (this season has seen quite a few such scenes), it once again reiterates just how confusing the ejection calls have been in 2024. So what led Bell to his 31st career ejection?

The Reds and Marlins were having themselves a good game. However, from the beginning of the series, there was one consistent theme to their competition – questionable decisions. Multiple balls had been struck and that gave a frustrating air to the entire series. However, things boiled during the seventh inning on Thursday night when Elly De La Cruz was called out on strikes despite the pitch being below the strike zone. That brought out David Bell.

However, unlike other managers, Bell remained calm and composed while approaching the home plate umpire Bill Miller. But the moment Bell spoke the first word, Miller immediately ejected him. Bell was caught surprised and was visibly taken aback. So the Reds manager then pleaded his case to the umpire more emphatically but the damage had been done. He had to leave the field.

Now as per the rules, anytime a manager or any staff enters the field to question balls and strike calls, the umpire has the right to eject them immediately. But that doesn’t seem to impress longtime fans. Due to the umpires already having a difficult relationship with the baseball lovers, this latest sudden ejection has only given the fans even more ammunition to question the on-field decision-makers. 

Fans begin latest trolling spree after David Bell’s ejection

Fans of the Cincinnati Reds and other teams only needed a slight nudge to begin their trolling spree after this bizarre decision. “Did bro said the greatest slur ever invented or wtf?” said a fan. One doesn’t need to be a professional lip reader to understand what David Bell said. The manager’s mouth spelled “That was down” and that was more than enough for the umpire to eject him. Yes, that is the rule but it doesn’t make it any less strange for the viewing audience.

“Even when the managers are calm and polite, they still get tossed. What is happening to our game??” said another baseball lover. That is a question that nearly every baseball fan has asked this season. We’ve seen offenses range from genuine rage to normal conversations that have been punished with an ejection. Bryce Harper was ejected for having a conversation and now that scene has repeated again. How long until something is done to fix this issue?

“As soft as baby s**t,” wrote one user. That is quite a strange description but it explains how frustrating this call is. To the fans at least, it looks like the umpires have reduced their tolerance this year. While that may or may not be true, baseball lovers have decided to share it openly as we speak.  Could something change their opinion? 

“Welcome to the ump show,” said an Instagram user. Yes, that is a big complaint now. Slowly it feels like baseball has shifted its focus from being about the battle between the pitcher and hitter to umpires. Fans look anxiously every time an umpire makes a decision – simply because the consistency seems to be absent. While the umpires are right the majority of the time (maybe even 90% of the time), this fear isn’t vanishing anytime soon.

David Bell is popular for being aggressive, with one Cincinnati Reds fan commenting, “Calm David Bell is boring. I need fake anger David Bell.” After all, Bell has faced ejections 31 times in 823 games, that is not a coincidence. He’s 55th in the all-time manager ejection list and no.1 in the Reds’ franchise history, and the fact that he did it even before 1000 games is quite an achievement.

So as it stands, the fight between the fans and umpires hasn’t ended yet. Time hasn’t healed the wounds but only increased their depth. Could this feud ever end? What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.