MLB calls Cubs' Joe Maddon on ejection, umpiring rant; mulls fine

MILWAUKEE – Cubs manager Joe Maddon is awaiting word on a likely fine from major league baseball after talking Friday with MLB discipline boss Joe Torre about postgame comments Wednesday in St. Louis regarding “egregiously bad” umpiring.

“We just talked about that particular game and what went on, and, of course, my comments postgame were discussed,” said Maddon, who was ejected by home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn in the sixth inning of the Cubs’ 6-5 victory over the Cardinals. “We just talked about things and came to an agreement and that’s it.

“It was very quick to the point. I understood it. We’re fine.”

The call was standard procedure before MLB makes a decision on potential punitive action. And in Maddon’s case a regular part of the job in his 10th season as a big-league manager.

“Joe and talk at least once a year,” Maddon said, smiling. “It happens at least once a year.”

Wednesday’s ejection was Maddon’s second of the season.

After the game, he was critical of what he suggested was a double standard with the strike zones being called against his rookie hitters (Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Jorge Soler).

“I’d had enough,” he said during a postgame rant in which he never mentioned an umpire by name. “It was the whole game. It was egregiously bad.

“You cannot permit that to happen. We’re trying to ascend, and we’re not going to take that from anybody, anywhere, anytime. We’re playing a veteran club, with a veteran battery, and you’ve got guys that barely have a month in the big leagues – I’m not going to take it. Our guys deserve equal treatment. I’m not going to take it.”

The Cubs’ starter that night, veteran Jon Lester, said wasn’t sure about a double standard.

“I thought [Reyburn] was pretty fair on our end as far as me,” Lester said. “You could ask their guys. I don’t know. It’s hard to see from the dugout. But that’s what Joe does, sticks up for his guys. That’s what you ask for from a manager. That was nice to see.”