
Now that’s a Major League Baseball ejection. Tensions were already tight in extra innings Thursday night at Target Field. Still, things boiled over fast when the Twins’ Ryan Jeffers got rung up on a controversial foul tip call — one that left manager Rocco Baldelli furious. And not just mildly annoyed — we’re talking hat-throwing, dirt-kicking, mic-blowing fury.
Let’s rewind. Game tied 3-3. Bottom of the 11th. Twins hoping to answer Detroit’s go-ahead sac fly. Jeffers leads off, takes a hack, tips the pitch… and here’s where it gets wild. Umpire John Bacon rules it’s a foul tip caught by Tigers catcher Dillon Dinger — strike three. Inning’s off to a brutal start.
Jeffers doesn’t think Dinger caught it. He’s adamant it hit the dirt first. And almost instantly, Baldelli storms out of the dugout like a man on a mission. The words? Not subtle. The audio? Crystal clear. “There’s no f—— way. You f—— it up.” That’s what Bacon heard before Baldelli got the ol’ heave-ho. And honestly? That might’ve been the most deserved ejection of the season — not because he was wrong, but because he gave it everything he had.
Twins Manager Fully Erupts at the Umpire

Once ejected, Baldelli didn’t slink away quietly either. No sir. We got the full show: more yelling, a little dirt dance, a hat toss, the whole ejection choreography. Old-school baseball rage — the kind you can’t fake.
Now, here’s the kicker: even after slow-motion replays and frame-by-frame breakdowns, it’s still murky. Dirt flies. Glove moves. Did it hit the ground? Maybe. Maybe not. It’s baseball’s eternal gray area. And honestly, it doesn’t even matter anymore. The call stood. The Tigers won. The Twins lost. And Rocco Baldelli gave us theatrical gold.
Sometimes it’s not about being right. It’s about standing up for your guy. And on this night, Baldelli went full gladiator mode for Jeffers. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Because in a game that rides the razor’s edge of nuance and emotion, a worthy ejection like this is baseball at its loudest, rawest, and realest.