St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol indicated he believes the Milwaukee Brewers relayed stolen signs from the dugout, and Marmol’s in-game reaction seems to be what triggered Abner Uribe’s elaborate celebration pointed toward the Cardinals dugout Tuesday, May 26.
Uribe apologized to his teammates for his eighth-inning crotch-chop demonstration after the Brewers’ 6-0 win over the Cardinals, and manager Pat Murphy called the action unacceptable. But Uribe didn’t back down from his animosity for the Cardinals, saying he was reacting in part to Marmol’s gesture during the Monday game that the Cardinals would hit Brewers batters.
“I don’t think it’s very professional to be making gestures like that,” Uribe said after Tuesday’s game. “I don’t think it’s right for any of my guys to be going out there with any sort of fear in their heads that they may be getting thrown at or they can’t play the game the way they want to be able to play. I want to make sure it’s also clear that my teammates in here know I have their back and I’m on their side.”
The Cardinals denied that they hinted at plunking batters, but the feeling around the Brewers clubhouse was that Uribe wasn’t inventing something out of thin air.
“He said what he said and I’ll leave it at that,” Brewers veteran Christian Yelich said before the game Wednesday. “Obviously, I don’t think the strikeout celebration is something we need to be doing; that might have been a little bit over the top.
“He’s a guy that always has his teammates’ back. I think there’s different ways to go about it. I appreciate where he was coming from on it, but I think there’s a different way to handle that situation, and I think he knows that. We’ve all addressed it and hopefully moved on and not have it become a big distraction.”
Marmol also answered questions about the interaction before Wednesday’s game.
“We felt like they were being pretty demonstrative about relaying from the dugout,” Marmol said about Monday’s game. “I looked over [to the Brewers dugout] and said, ‘Don’t do it, be smart, you’re going to get somebody hurt, what are we trying to do here?’ And that was it.
“[Sign stealing is] part of the game, you have to be buttoned up on your end. If someone has something on us, that’s on our staff and players to clean up. But then there’s a certain way that you use it.”
The Brewers hope the conflict has been handled. Marmol also said he considered the matter closed and said he’s never ordered a hit batsman in his coaching career at any level. “I think you’re putting real people at risk,” he said. “It’s not worth it.”
Based on conversations in both clubhouses Wednesday morning, some with the Brewers aren’t sure if the bad blood is truly resolved. The Brewers believe Marmol pointed to his ribs during the Monday game to signify intent, a gesture Uribe said was directed at Yelich and William Contreras. The Brewers perceive this as an ongoing tension with the Cardinals, and specifically Marmol.
“Teams have these conversations all the time,” Marmol said. “Usually you just don’t get that type of demonstrative reaction. You have those type of interactions daily across the league.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Cardinals manager was upset with Brewers, and tension followed Tuesday
Reporting by Curt Hogg and JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
