Major League Baseball announced this evening that Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has been suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount for making contact with umpire Mike Everitt following his ejection yesterday. Molina has appealed the ruling and is in the starting lineup for tonight’s game against the Diamondbacks.
Molina was ejected yesterday after he was called out on a close play at first base in the third inning. The Cardinals’ backstop threw his helmet in frustration, which resulted in the ejection from first base umpire Clint Fagan and a heated confrontation. Everitt, who was the second base umpire, ran over in an attempt to restore some order. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was also ejected for coming out to restrain and defend Molina.
It’s worth noting that Everitt told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he thought the contact from Molina was “incidental.” Still, MLB decided to send a message. The guess here is that Molina gets out of the suspension, but pays the fine.
