Joe Maddon has never been afraid to stand up for his guys, and if he feels someone is causing problems for one his guys, expect the Cubs skipper to make his opinion very clear. Maddon did just that Monday afternoon, after being ejected in the 8th inning of the Cubs brutal 4-3 loss to the Brewers when Maddon attempted to argue balls and strikes with home plate umpire Gabe Morales.
Maddon got the hook rather quickly, who admitted after the game he was more or less in that conversation to support CJ Edwards - who was also ejected for arguing balls and strikes. And while the league has made it clear players and coaches will be ejected if they argue calls at the plate, it's clear that Maddon doesn't care about that, and it's starting to rub umpires the wrong way.
According to Jon Heyman, who spoke on 670 the Score's Mully & Haugh show Tuesday morning, Maddon is not making many friends when he steps out of his dugout to have a word with umpires.
Maddon has shown that when anyone crosses him or his club, like Alex Rodriguez, he doesn't tolerate it and will go out of his way to make sure his opinions on the matter are clear. And apparently, the umpire's do not appreciate Maddon constantly going at-bat for his team, despite how charming the manager can be at times.
Umpires will continue to get calls wrong, Joe Maddon will continue to get on their case when one of those calls doesn't go their way, and there will be a mutual dislike from both parties until the MLB develops a more precise way to make these calls. The human element is important to baseball, but what's more important is getting called strikes and balls correct - instead of just telling one side they can't argue calls.
Until that happens, umpires will continue to hate Joe Maddon and Maddon will continue to give them an ear-full from the dugout and occasionally a few inches from their face.