OAKLAND — All it took was one borderline pitch to be called a third strike by home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn for A’s starting catcher Kyle McCann to lose his mind in the ninth inning of Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the visiting Royals.
The rookie had some choice words for the umpire, who tossed McCann from the game after Zack Gelof was called out on strikes.
And with one fiery ejection, two rock-on rockstar hands raised to the Coliseum crowd, and a number of fist bumps with sympathetic fans en route to the clubhouse, McCann is on his way to joining a long list of A’s whose passion endeared themselves to the team’s fans.
“In my opinion, he’d be a fan-favorite if he was playing every day,” Max Schuemann said while sitting next to McCann’s locker. “He has that kind of fire about it.”
Kyle McCann was ejected after this strike three call to Zack Gelof and he gave the fans the rockstar hand signal on his way out lol pic.twitter.com/HlvbDoaG2n
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 20, 2024
A’s fans did love intense competitors such as Grant Balfour, Josh Reddick, Sean Doolittle, Jason Giambi and even current manager Mark Kotsay.
Kotsay, who has been ejected from 12 games in three years as manager and was tossed from last week’s game against the Padres for arguing balls and strikes, had no issue with his catcher showing some fire.
“Obviously you don’t want to be disrespectful, and I don’t think that in any way he was being disrespectful toward the umpire.” Kotsay said. “The emotion is always a good thing.”
McCann, a 26-year-old who was Oakland’s fourth-round pick in the 2019 draft, had an eventful day leading up to his departure from Thursday’s series finale.
The former Georgia Tech Yellowjacket was thrown out at the plate to end the seventh inning when he tried to go from first to home on an Abraham Toro single. He also walked once and struck out.
“We’ve played a lot of close games over the last month or so, and we haven’t always come out on top,” Schuemann said. “So when you feel like a call doesn’t go your way, it can fire you up a little bit.”
McCann, who did not start Friday’s series opener against the Twins, is hitting .270/.357/.432 with three home runs and nine RBIs in 84 plate appearances this season.
Twins make final trip to Coliseum
The A’s honored Catfish Hunter by naming the C Gate at the Coliseum after the late Hall of Fame pitcher and displaying some of his highlights while with Oakland.
With the A’s destined to move to Sacramento for the 2025 season, this will be the last visit to the Coliseum for a team that has caused both celebration and heartbreak in the East Bay.
Hall of Fame pitcher Catfish Hunter threw a perfect game against Minnesota in 1968, the A’s first season in Alameda County. Hunter had 11 strikeouts and drove in three runs to secure the 4-0 victory in an era before the emergence of designated hitters.
The 2006 A’s, who had Barry Zito headlining the rotation and Eric Chavez, Frank Thomas and Nick Swisher slugging for the 93-win team, swept the Joe Mauer Twins 3-0 to advance to the ALCS.
It was revenge for 2002, when Oakland’s 103-win juggernaut of Moneyball and 20-game win streak fame, was upset 3-2 by Minnesota.
A’s honor Negro Leagues star
FILE–Ageless Satchel Paige, the veteran pitcher whose age is somewhere around 59 years, sits on a chair in the clubhouse and holds Catfish Hunter, 19, on his lap and gives the youngster a pitching tip after joining the Kansas City Athletics last night, September 14, 1965, in the Twin Cities. Hunter, the Hall of Fame pitcher who ushered in baseball’s era of big bucks for free agents, died Sept. 9, 1999 at age 53 after battling the disease named after another New York Yankees great, Lou Gehrig(AP Photo/Gene Herrick)
The day after the cross-bay Giants paid tribute to the Negro Leagues in a nationally-televised game against the St. Louis Cardinals at historic Rickwood Field, the A’s honored one of the leagues’ legendary figures with a promotional giveaway.
Fans who arrived to the Coliseum early were given a Satchel Paige bobblehead.
Paige, who played in Chattanooga, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and other teams in the Negro Leagues, also spent time with MLB’s Cleveland and St. Louis post-integration before retiring at 46 years old in 1953.
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The A’s eclectic owner Charlie Finley, always looking for a way to get fans into the seats while the team was based in Kansas City, convinced a 58-year-old Paige to come out of retirement for one game against the Boston Red Sox.
He threw three scoreless innings, striking out one and allowing just one hit. Paige retired again for good after the game.
Injuries and moves
The A’s promoted right handed pitcher Osvaldo Bido from Triple-A Las Vegas.
Kotsay said, “One of the things we wanted to get back to was having some length here, where someone can come in and throw three or four innings if needed.”
The 28-year-old Bido pitched one game against Texas this season and started nine games for Pittsburgh last year.
Kyle Muller, on the IL with left-shoulder tendinitis, is expected to throw a 25-to-30 pitch bullpen on Saturday. “We’ll see how he recovers from that, and if things go well, he’ll go out on a rehab assignment,” Kotsay said.
