Fine incoming: Jose Altuve sounds off on umpires who ejected him, barefoot and all

Houston Astros slugger Jose Altuve was ejected for protesting a foul ball that was incorrectly called fair, and went to extreme measures to do so.
Houston Astros v San Diego Padres
Houston Astros v San Diego Padres / Denis Poroy/GettyImages
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Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was ejected, barefoot and all, over a bad foul ball call in the team's eventual win over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night. However, Altuve's wallet may be hurting even more than his foot after the comments he made about said umpires in the wrong postgame.

Altuve has every right to feel wronged by the decision -- heck, he was right, as the call he contested did in fact hit his foot -- but that won't stop MLB from fining him for taking his grievances the extra mile when asked by the media.

“I get a foul ball because it hit my foot and they just took it away from me. I don’t think it can happen. There were four [umpires] on the field. You’ve got to see the change of direction on the ball and just make the right call," Altuve said.

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Jose Altuve puts umpires on blast for call against Astros, and it'll cost him

That ejection was just the third of Altuve's career, and his second this season. The typically mild-mannered Astros star even took off his shoe and sock to show the umpires where the ball hit him in the first place. It didn't work, and he was thrown out of the game for his outlandish display.

“It’s a foul ball,” manager Joe Espada said. “You have to see the ball once it hits the foot, the flight of the ball, what the ball does. I don’t understand. That’s twice this year. I have a lot of respect for the umpires. They work hard. There’s four out there. For me, you have to be able to see it. They missed that play.”

Espada loves going to bat for his players, and it's why he's one of the more beloved managers in MLB. He and the Astros were right to be peeved by such a call, but they're far from the only team to be wronged by the umpires this season. If anything, it speaks to flaws in the system the league ought to look at this offseason. For example, why the heck isn't that play reviewable?

Nonetheless, the Astros won the game. It's over, and time to move on. Altuve continuing to protest the decision in the clubhouse only took money out of his pocket, and potentially himself off the field if MLB deems his comments worthy of a suspension.

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