This is the first in what will be an ongoing series covering some of my favorite and most memorable ejections from my time watching baseball.

Baseball ejections are the best… in retrospect. Ok, I’m not trying to endorse temper tantrums nor I am exactly happy with seeing my favorite players or my team’s manager get thrown out of a game at the time, sometimes for absurd reasons, but ejections lead to some peak comedy on the field. There is something bizarrely hilarious about two grown men in a shouting match where you have (almost) no idea what’s even being said or how things could escalate all while a crowd cheers them on. There’s a theatrical element to the ejection that makes it so wonderful. From the way the umpire gives the call to the way the ejectee responds, there are so many ways for chaos to be made.

Arguably, managers are the best at this performance. The first name that comes to mind is Braves great Bobby Cox, the all-time ejections leader known for his ability to toss batting helmets and shout at men in black polos well into his 60s. For my money, few have done it better than Hall of Famer Earl Weaver, an Oscar-worthy ejectee who wasn’t afraid to make his feelings known to the officials. While he’s only fourth on the ejection leaderboard with 96, his tirades were the stuff of legends featuring all the hallmarks of an entertaining exit – a nuclear meltdown full of expletives, impersonating a player to show an umpire how wrong they are, and just some general physical comedy. Yankees skipper Aaron Boone is arguably the best current manager at those latter two. He delivered an all-time great line with his whole “savages in the box” rant which we’ll talk about eventually.

Today, though, I’d like to present a sneaky-good performer of the ejection freakout – Craig Counsell.

Counsell is widely regarded as one of baseball’s best contemporary managers, and for good reason. Since leaving his playing days behind and becoming a manager in 2015, he helped turn around the Milwaukee Brewers and led them to a relatively unprecedented stretch of success with playoff berths in five out of six seasons from 2018 through 2023. Among those was the team’s 2018 run where they fell a game short of reaching the World Series. In 2024, he’s tasked with helping the Brewers’ rival Chicago Cubs return to the promised land after falling just short of the postseason last year.

He’s also, according to his teammates and many of those managed by him, an elite human being capable of winning over a clubhouse. Part of it is his ability to handle tough confrontations and conversations with grace. Here’s some of what Keston Hiura had to say about Counsell’s honest, sincere approach to discussing his demotion and the team’s decision to allow him time away from the team to be with his ailing mother:

“The conversation felt very personal. I could tell he cared. And you can see that he cares for every person, every player. Obviously, hearing you are getting sent down isn’t what anyone wants to hear. But he made it a point to relate to me with him being a former player. He was pretty good at reading my body language and picking my brain on what’s going on.”

– Hiura, per The Athletic

In short, Counsell is awesome and a beloved figure in the game. He’s also responsible for one of the single funniest ejections I’ve ever seen. Let’s set the scene. It’s the bottom of the 8th in Milwaukee and Lorenzo Cain is at the dish against Phillies pitcher Jake Arrieta. Cain is not having a good at-bat, though not through any real fault of his own. Twice, home plate umpire Mike Estabrook called a strike on a would-be ball when he was already at three. Frustration had been mounting all day, with Ryan Braun even getting tossed himself for his frustration with the missed calls. Counsell and the Brewers had eight sickening innings of Arrieta pitching to sit through with Estabrook making some questionable calls to make hitting that day even more vexing.

At some point, someone was going to explode. Cain’s at-bat and later groundout was just the spark that lit this grease fire. Counsell yelled from the dugout, Estabrook tossed him, and then the fireworks happened.

There’s so much I love about this tirade. For one, the way it begins is hilarious. When the ejection comes, Counsell almost looks exasperated in an “oh God, now I have to go yell at this guy,” manner. Their conversation starts like a fairly typical manager-umpire confrontation, but then bursts into a face-to-face, spit-flying shouting match. Estabrook and Counsell’s heads fly furiously left to right and back and forth like bobbleheads with eyes comically wide while arguing just how far the strikes were outside the zone. This clash is so enjoyable to watch in part because both men can match each other’s level of fury and crazy.

Even without the context of lip-reading, it seems so hilariously childish, namely on Estabrook’s end. Another reason why this whole exchange is funny is the strain Counsell seemingly goes through to avoid contact and a potential fine from the umpire. As Estabrook pushes forward, Counsell tries to lean back as best he can and keep his arms behind his back for the most part. Then, of course, Estabrook bumps into him, cries out that Counsell bumped him, and then walks off in a huff all as Counsell says a few parting words before heading back to the dugout. It’s playground bully behavior and it’s stupid. So very stupid, but worthy of a laugh at Estabrook’s expense.

The icing on the cake is how mild-mannered Counsell appears from the dugout. Seeing him erupt into this level of rage is a rare sight, making it all the more funny when he finds reason to get that mad. And he’s just naturally good at it thanks to his expressions, even without the level of dirt flying or expletive shouting that someone like Weaver displayed. Obviously, Counsell, and most managers, engage in such antics to stick up for their team and ensure that nobody involved in play on the field gets tossed when they can still help earn a win. They just happen to deliver bizarre performances along the way that stick in our memories.

Unfortunately, this whole fiasco ended with the Brewers losing 7-2 and Counsell earning a fine for contact with Estabrook. However, what’s left from that defeat will live on forever as a funny, childish, and ultimately memorable moment from the career of one of baseball’s best modern managers. Score: 7/10.