Rule of thumb: It's a bad thing when you notice an umpire during a game, and Doug Eddings made sure he was noticed Friday night at Coors Field. Eddings, the home plate umpire, instructed Cardinals reliever Hancel Rincon to wear his cap straight in the sixth inning of St. Louis' win over the Rockies (STL 7, COL 6).
Rincon, making his MLB debut, entered the game with his cap tilted slightly to the left. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol came out to defend his player and was later ejected for arguing with Eddings, calling it a "power-hungry move" to tell Rincon to straighten his cap. Both Marmol and Eddings indicated it was a directive, not a suggestion.
"I had an issue with Doug. Just Doug," Marmol said after the game (via MLB.com). "He took it upon himself to tell our rookie pitcher the kid's 'not going to wear his hat on my field that way.' You got Dontrelle Willis, CC Sabathia, Pedro Strop, plenty of guys that have worn it way more tilted.
I have an issue with that. That's just a power-hungry move, in my opinion." "I've been pitching with my hat like that," Rincon said through an interpreter (via the St. But I had no idea why he told me to do it." It is neither uncommon nor against the rules for a player to wear his cap slightly tilted.
Eddings admitted much after the game. "It's not (a rule)," Eddings said (via MLB.com). "I guess it's a little unwritten rule.
They can't wear (their caps) backwards like a catcher. If it's a distraction, like anything on the field, like a glove or something, and someone makes you aware of it, then you kind of address that." MLB Rule 3.03 covers player uniforms and does not contain any specific standards for caps. Rules 3.03(g) and (h) cover potential distractions, specifically forbidding any "pattern that imitates or suggests the shape of a baseball" and "glass buttons and polished metal." Rule 3.07 prohibits certain patterns and colors for the pitcher's glove, though that was not the issue Friday.
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