Pudge miffed at ump, thrilled for Beltre

Ivan Rodriguez was watching Wednesday’s Texas Rangers game on his mobile device, and his jaw hit the floor when he saw umpire Gerry Davis eject third baseman Adrian Beltre.

Beltre, four hits shy of 3,000, was tossed after dragging the on-deck circle to where he was standing, rather than standing in its location as Davis requested. Manager Jeff Banister was also ejected after Beltre got the thumb.

Rodriguez wanted to give Davis the finger.

“What I saw the other night, that wasn’t nice,” Rodriguez said. “The umpire came in an threw out of the game, a guy that every at-bat is very important to him.

“That’s Adrian. He’s a funny guy. He makes a lot of people smile. I was watching the game, and I laughed when that happened. ... But the umpire wasn’t laughing.”

Rodriguez said that Beltre will be joining him some day in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The 3,000th hit could come this weekend and could come Sunday as Rodriguez gives his induction speech.

“I’ll be saying it on stage,” Rodriguez said. “It’s not in my speech, but if he does it, I’ll do it.”

Rodriguez has been amazed with what Beltre has done with the Rangers.

“I think, obviously, he’s going to be a Hall of Famer for sure when he retires. There’s no question,” Rodriguez said. “What he’s doing is unbelievable, not only as a hitter. What he does day in and day out, being the leader of the ballclub, taking care of things in the clubhouse, and after that go out and hit three hits, four hits and make plays at third base.”

This story was originally published July 28, 2017 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Pudge miffed at ump, thrilled for Beltre."