"Absolute psycho";"World's biggest ego" - Fans call out home plate umpire's bizarre behavior in Blue Jays vs Mariners ALCS Game 2

On Monday, the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners battled it out in game two of the ALCS, which took place at the Rogers Center. The game got off to a flying start, with both teams scoring three runs each in the first two innings.

Eventually, it was the Mariners that picked up their second win of the series, scoring in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to blow the game wide open and silence the usually raucous Blue Jays fans.

Alongside all the action that took place on the field, the bizarre behaviour of home plate umpire Doug Eddings also caught many fans' eyes. On several occasions, as batters fouled balls back or hit them off the dirt, catchers reached in Eddings' direction for a new baseball, as is the norm. However, instead of giving it to the catcher, Eddings insisted on throwing the ball back to the pitcher himself.

A clip of Doug Eddings' peculiar antics later made it to X.

Reacting to the video, plenty of fans left comments criticizing Doug Eddings for wanting to be the 'main character'.

"Absolute psycho" a fan wrote "This ump has the worlds biggest ego" another fan commented "It acc pisses me off so much just give the ball to the catcher" another fan replied "Doug Eddings loves the camera on himself. Always has. Whether it’s throwing someone out or this garbage. Don’t even know how he gets a playoff game." another fan responded "The Doug show" another fan shared "Kirk looks fed up with him as well, he keeps reaching for the ball and the ump keeps throwing it himself." another fan posted

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Alongside his bizarre antics behind home plate, Doug Eddings also missed an alarming amount of calls during the Blue Jays-Mariners ALCS game

During game two of the ALCS between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners, home plate umpire Doug Eddings' bizarre behaviour behind the plate was not the only thing getting on fans' nerves.

As popular baseball content page "Umpire Auditor" reported via X, Eddings also missed 24 calls in total during the game. This made Monday's fixture the worst-called playoff game since October 7, 2022, another game that was called by Eddings himself.

"Umpire Doug Eddings missed 24 calls in ALCS game 2. This was the worst called playoff game since October 7, 2022 -- a game also called by Eddings" the post read

Eddings' poor display in such an important game, with season-defining implications for both the Blue Jays and the Mariners, only further justifies the requirement of the Automated Ball-Strike system (ABS) which will be implemented in 2026, allowing players to challenge incorrect calls.

Edited by Raghav Mehta