MILWAUKEE – Cubs manager David Ross’ profanity-laced rant about the American Family Field roof made it onto the Marquee Sports Network postgame show Tuesday night. From there, fans’ videos of their television sets made the rounds on social media.
Cubs right-hander Marcus Stroman quote tweeted one such clip with his reaction: “BIG LEGEND!”
Ross was frustrated about a lot of things during the Cubs’ 7-6 extra-innings win on Tuesday. Both teams expressed dismay at home plate umpire Erich Bacchus’s strike zone. In the sixth inning, Ross argued for an interference call when the Brewers’ William Contreras ran on the inside of the base path to try to beat out a swinging bunt. After Bacchus appeared to lose track of the count in the 11th inning, briefly calling Dansby Swanson out on strike two, a chain reaction of arguments got both first base coach Mike Napoli and Ross ejected.
“I’m trying to balance the emotions and continue to have these guys execute and have good at-bats, and it just wasn’t very good,” Ross said after the game of the umpiring. “And we made that known. And some guys were starting to get frustrated. And I know it’s not an easy job, but some of the pitches that got called today just weren’t even close. And so it’s got to be better.
“They’re closing the roof to get rid of shadows late. There was a lot of bull—- that went on today that just was really frustrating.”
Ah yes, the roof. MLB’s general ground rules allow the home team to close the roof during a game for weather reasons. And it can only be moved once during a game unless inclement weather dictates otherwise. On Tuesday, it was a stop-and-go process during crucial late innings.
Were the Brewers within the guidelines?
“I thought it was [expletive] horse—-,” Ross said Tuesday night. “I don’t [expletive] know.”
Ross revealed Wednesday afternoon that in discussions before the game, the Brewers identified some rain in the area and the possibility of a popup shower that would initiate a roof closure.
“Looked pretty nice to me,” Ross said Wednesday, chuckling. “Beautiful Fourth of July. Really unAmerican to shut the roof last night. I thought on Fourth of July it was a really, really bad move.”
At American Family Field, no less.
“I don’t control the roof,” Ross said. “The umpires don’t control the roof. There’s rules set in place to deter certain things. It just seemed awfully shady yesterday. That’s it.”
Injury updates
Imaging revealed that third baseman Nick Madrigal sustained a “moderate” strain of his right hamstring. His rehab plan has him keeping it moving but delaying baseball activities until his hamstring fully heals.
Reliever Brad Boxberger (strained right forearm) resumed his throwing program with catch play, the team announced Wednesday. He’d built up to throwing live batting practice in mid-June, but after a setback, they temporarily shut him down.