Craig Counsell didn’t last long on Thursday night in San Francisco. The Chicago Cubs manager was tossed in the third inning of his team’s matchup with the Giants after arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire David Rackley — and the ejection came fast.
The moment unfolded with Ian Happ at the plate, a runner on first, and one out in a tie game. On a 3-2 pitch, right fielder Kyle Tucker broke for second base. The pitch was called a strike, and Tucker was thrown out to end the inning. Counsell clearly thought the pitch missed outside and bolted from the dugout to make his case. Rackley, however, wasted no time giving him the hook.
Counsell didn’t appear to put on much of a show but Rackley’s strike zone had been tight, and the manager wasn’t about to let the moment slide. Given the Cubs’ recent struggles at the plate, it may have been a calculated move by Counsell to inject some energy into his dugout. Still, his surprise was evident when Rackley wasted little time before tossing him.
Cubs Searching for a Spark
The timing was telling. Chicago had dropped the first two games of the series, managing just five total runs in the process. They entered Thursday sitting at 76–57, trailing the Brewers by 6.5 games in the NL Central but holding steady atop the NL wild-card race. With the calendar inching toward September, every at-bat carries more weight, and Counsell may have seen the controversial strikeout as the perfect rallying point.
Whether the ejection will wake up the Cubs’ bats remains to be seen, but Counsell wasn’t going to let a tight call in a key spot pass without protest — even if it meant spending most of the game watching from the clubhouse.
