There is a time and place to unsheathe five to ten of your toes out in front of your coworkers. Perhaps in a group swimming situation, or something like that. The general rule, however, is: If in public you be, your feet they shan't see. Jose Altuve failed to obey this maxim, and he was summarily ejected from a wild Astros win against the Padres for podiatric crimes.
Altuve ended the top of the ninth inning by grounding out to third, stranding the go-ahead runner on second with the score tied at three runs apiece and giving San Diego a chance to walk it off. Houston's tiny second baseman did not even try to run to first, however, as he claimed he'd fouled the pitch off of his left foot. The video of the play (7:43 in the below highlight reel) shows pretty clearly that Altuve did bonk his own foot, though home plate umpire Brennan Miller wasn't having it. Despite the protestations of Altuve and his manager Joe Espada, the play was not reviewable and the initial ruling therefore stood—which did not stop Altuve from unsocking himself to present evidence. Miller drew the line at toe reveal, and ejected Altuve.
The ejection was Altuve's second left-foot-based ejection of the season, as he was tossed from a June game against the Mets under almost exactly the same circumstances. That is part of why he and Espada were so fired up after the game, with Espada saying, "You have to see the ball once he hits the foot, the flight of the ball. I don't get it. I don't understand. That's twice this year. I have a lot of respect for the umpires. They work hard. But there are four out there. You have to be able to see it. They missed that call."
The Astros, the baseball club least allowed to complain about fairness, were rewarded for their bad fortune: Altuve's replacement Grae Kessinger wound up being the hero, scoring what turned out to be the winning run in the top of the 10th inning and then making the game's final out. In between those, there was time for one more controversial play. This time, it made everyone mad.
With two outs in the bottom of the 10th, Jurickson Profar was almost but not quite hit by a pitch. Miller, though, judged that he'd been grazed, and sent him to first. Both benches became enraged with yet another missed call, and even though the Padres challenged the call and Profar did not seem to have been hit, the play was upheld. Machado grounded out to Kessinger moments later.
Unlike Espada, Padres manager Mike Shildt was less fired up after the loss and more appreciative of a game that featured "a lot of strategy, a lot of situations." Sorry sir, but the bar has been set at one foot, and if you want to show your players you care, time to yoink those socks off.
