"Way Out of Line!" - Rich Reacts to the MLB Crooked Baseball Hat Debacle This Weekend

Rich has been upset at baseball before, but rarely like this.

The target was home plate umpire Doug Eddings, who told a rookie on the St. Louis Cardinals to straighten his hat. "Absolutely dreadful," Rich said. "What a horrible moment that was for baseball, for umpiring."

Eddings had the catcher pass the message to the kid. After the game, Eddings offered his explanation, and Rich found none of it convincing. As Rich relayed it, Eddings said nobody had said anything until the rookie gave up some runs, and that the kid wasn't going to wear his hat like that on his field.

Rich's rebuttal came from his own weekend. He had just gone to Yankees and Angels with his 15-year-old son.

"We did not spend a split second on the way to the stadium saying, 'Oh, I can't wait to see who's the home plate umpire,'" he said. "With all due respect, your job is to make sure we're not talking about you. Period. End of story."

Rich gave credit where he thought it was due. The Cardinals manager got ejected, and Rich said he should have. And the next day, both the Cardinals and the Rockies wore their hats askew.

Then Rich said what he thought the moment was really about. "Honestly, what are we doing? Telling kids, certainly of color, to straighten their hats out. Like, what century are we in? What decade are we in? What world are we in?"

Someone on set pointed out that Sonny Gray, a former Cardinal now with the Red Sox, has worn his hat that way with no issue, ever.

"What the hell was that all about?" Rich said. "Not your job, sir. Not your job."

It got worse from there, in Rich's telling. Eddings also hit the Cardinals with a pitch clock violation because the manager argued in between pitching changes. Rich's advice: "Power trip somewhere else. Not on your field."

He was clear about why he spoke up. "I'm not virtue signaling either," Rich said. "I just saw it, I'm like, what the hell are we doing?"

The verdict from the room was short. "This is stupid."