Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon was ejected from Saturday night’s Game 1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers after arguing a controversial call, and he continued to seethe about the play after the contest.
Maddon, whose Cubs lost 5-2 to the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLCS, was incensed over a play involving catcher Willson Contreras at home plate, and he compared the call of umpires to Chicago’s unpopular sugary beverage tax.
“That was a beautifully done major league play all the way around, that gets interpreted kind of like, it’s tantamount to the soda tax in Chicago for me,” he said. “I, from day one, have totally disagreed with the content of that rule. I think it’s wrong.”
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Jacob Turner singled to right field, and on the throw in, Contreras tagged out Charlie Culberson.
After review, the umpires ruled that Contreras did not give Culberson a clear lane to the plate, and then ruled him safe to give the Dodgers a 5-2 lead that they would never relinquish.
It’s hard to figure out exactly what element of the rule Maddon was referring to with his soda tax comparison, but that MLB rule likely is about as popular as the tax is to residents in Cook County.
