{"id":56540,"date":"2025-05-21T07:49:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T07:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=56540"},"modified":"2025-05-21T07:49:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T07:49:16","slug":"nesns-lou-merloni-criticizes-combative-umpire-during-walker-buehlers-ejection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=56540","title":{"rendered":"NESN’s Lou Merloni criticizes ‘combative’ umpire during Walker Buehler’s ejection"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"NESN's Photo Credit: NESN<\/p>\n
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The main job of a Major League Baseball umpire is to get the calls right. Another job is to defuse tense situations. During Tuesday night\u2019s game between the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox, umpire Mike Estabrook did neither \u2014 at least according to NESN color analyst, Lou Merloni.<\/p>\n

Boston pitcher Walker Buehler and manager Alex Cora were both ejected in the third inning of the game. The controversy stemmed from Buehler\u2019s 1-0 pitch to Juan Soto. New York\u2019s Francisco Lindor, who was on first, stole second on the pitch. Red Sox catcher Carlos Narv\u00e1ez quickly popped up to make the throw. In doing so, he might have blocked Estabrook\u2019s view of the pitch. Because while Buehler\u2019s offering was clearly in the strike zone, Estabrook called the pitch a ball. The umpire took exception to Buehler\u2019s frustration with the call and, after a brief exchange, ejected the pitcher. Cora, who came out of the dugout to continue Buehler\u2019s argument, was also ejected.<\/p>\n

Merloni was critical of Buehler for not composing himself better, noting that with long reliever Sean Newcomb unavailable, Buehler\u2019s early ejection put the Red Sox in a \u201cbad spot.\u201d But he also criticized umpire Estabrook for his actions.\u00a0While Buehler was upset with the call, he voiced his frustration from the pitcher\u2019s mound. Estabrook quickly took his mask off and began walking toward the mound, at which point Buehler began walking toward the plate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem I have here with Estabrook, Walker Buehler says something to him when he\u2019s on the dirt. But when the mask comes off, you\u2019re very confrontational,\u201d Merloni said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen the mask comes off, you\u2019re very confrontational\u2026When the mask comes off and you\u2019re aggressively coming at him, it\u2019s very combative. You\u2019re escalating it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lou Merloni reacts to umpire Mike Estabrook ejecting Walker Buehler. pic.twitter.com\/Taw13lJGCk<\/p>\n

\u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 20, 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWalker Buehler\u2019s been in the league a while,\u201d Merloni added. \u201cYou know you missed the pitch. He has something to say to you from the rubber. That\u2019s fine. But when the mask comes off and you\u2019re aggressively coming at him, it\u2019s very combative. And you\u2019re escalating it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"NESN's<\/p>\n

About Michael Dixon<\/h2>\n

About Michael:
\n— Writer\/editor for thecomeback.com and awfulannouncing.com.
\n— Bay Area born and raised, currently living in the Indianapolis area.
\n— Twitter:
\n@mfdixon1985 (personal).
\n@michaeldixonsports (work).
\n— Email: mdixon@thecomeback.com
\nSend tips, corrections, comments and (respectful) disagreements to that email. Do the same with pizza recommendations, taco recommendations and Seinfeld quotes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

<\/main><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lou Merloni, a color analyst for the Red Sox on NESN, criticized umpire Mike Estabrook for his conduct that led to Walker Buehler’s ejection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":56541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nNESN's Lou Merloni criticizes 'combative' umpire during Walker Buehler's ejection - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=56540\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NESN's Lou Merloni criticizes 'combative' umpire during Walker Buehler's ejection - 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