Willson Contreras' outburst was unacceptable and embarrassing for the Cardinals

I love Willson Contreras and the fire he brings to the St. Louis Cardinals, but his outburst last night after being ejected was unacceptable and should embarrass both him and the Cardinals.

During the bottom of the seventh inning, Contreras was called out on strikes, and after arguing for that call to go both ways as he walked back toward the dugout, he was ejected by home plate umpire Derek Thomas.

Frankly, the ejection seemed like a pretty weak move by Thomas, a troubling trend from umpires in recent years who seem to have a short fuse themselves. I get why Contreras was frustrated and animated toward Thomas, but charging him and throwing his bat in his direction, which hit Cardinals' hitting coach Brant Brown, was an ugly look for one of the leaders of this team.

I was also pretty disappointed that Marmol did not take time to address how inappropriate the bat throw specifically was from Contreras in his postgame comments. I understand that in the heat of a moment after a game, that may not have been the first thing on Marmol's mind, but considering he had been ejected from the game, he had plenty of time to think about that prior to getting to the podium.

Again, I want to reiterate that I think Thomas and the umpiring crew handled this situation about as poorly as possible, but that does not excuse the way Contreras reacted to their incompetence.

The Cardinals should be embarrassed by Willson Contreras' outburst

I wouldn't be surprised if Contreras ends up getting hit with a suspension for his actions last night, and I don't blame MLB if they do so. There really is no place in our game for that kind of behavior.

Again, I am a huge fan of Contreras as a player, as a person, and normally, for the fire he brings to this club. He's the kind of player you want in your dugout, the guy who is going to stand up to opposing teams and umpires any day of the week. He isn't someone you should mess with, and that's a great personality to have helping lead this young team.

Charging at an umpire, throwing a bat toward a crowd of people on the field, and launching the gum onto the field was just bad luck. The gum would've been pretty funny without the other antics, but his actions overall just left a bad taste in my mouth, and I hope he learns from this and channels his passion better like he normally does.