Schwarber's ejection joins these Phils all-timers

April 27th, 2022

This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki's Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Forget for a moment the reasons behind Kyle Schwarber’s ejection on Sunday night at Citizens Bank Park. He had every right to be furious at a wildly inconsistent strike zone in a 1-0 loss to the Brewers.

It made for great TV. It was fun to watch because everybody has been there. Maybe not there. Maybe not ranting and raving at The Man like that. But sports are entertainment, and it is entertaining to see a player or manager go nuts on the field.

Players love it, too. One thing I noticed after watching the replay several times: Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich cracking a wide smile in the dugout when Schwarber started to show Angel Hernandez the strike zone.

Schwarber got me thinking about the best Phillies ejections in the past 20-plus years. Here are six of my favorites:

1. Larry Bowa (July 14, 2001)
This was Bowa’s first ejection as manager. The best part was The Philadelphia Daily News running a contest at the time: When Larry Gets Ejected, promising four suite tickets at Veterans Stadium to the fan who picked the date and inning that Bowa got ejected for the first time. Bowa told The Athletic’s Matt Gelb a few years ago, “I was just getting tired of reading the Daily News. ‘Oh, oh, he hasn’t been thrown out.’ They had a poll. It was a perfect storm.” Bowa lost it on Dan Iassogna following a called third strike. “I was tired of reading the [stuff] in the paper,” Bowa said. “I didn’t like Dan Iassogna anyway. He’s a nice guy. But I didn’t like him as an umpire. He was [messing with] us this whole series. … I went [absolutely] nuts.”

2. Ryan Howard (Aug. 24, 2010)
This was the ejection that immediately came to mind after Schwarber’s on Sunday. It’s the way that umpire Scott Barry bobbed his head, stood with his hands on his hips and glared with widened eyes at Howard, who was upset at himself for not checking a swing. No wonder Howard went berserk after he struck out on another check swing.

3. Shane Victorino (Aug. 5, 2011)
This wasn’t the traditional ejection because it did not follow a poor reaction to a questionable call. This was Victorino getting ejected after getting hit by a pitch, then brawling with the Giants. The best part: after everything settled down, Victorino took another charge into the fray.

"Oh, boy," Victorino texted on Tuesday night. "It was a BLAST. I was forever a VILLAIN to Giants fans. 🤙🏽😂"

4. Charlie Manuel (May 15, 2012)
Manuel got tossed a bunch of times as the Phillies' manager, but this one stands out because Manuel and Bob Davidson each got suspended one game for their nose-to-nose shouting match. MLB suspended Davidson for his “repeated violations of the Office of the Commissioner’s standards for situation handling.” It was the first time since 2008 that an umpire got suspended.

Manuel was upset because Davidson collided with catcher Brian Schneider, which allowed an Astros batter to reach base on a strikeout/wild pitch.

“He was swearing at me and I was swearing back at him,” Manuel said on Tuesday. “I was telling him that I was going to kick his [butt] and stuff. Then, he started to try to calm me down. And I said, 'I don’t want to calm down. I’m out here for a reason.'”

5. Gabe Kapler (June 25, 2019)
This is a favorite because I relate to the moment when Kapler, who is so upset about Joe West’s warning to both benches after two consecutive Phillies got hit by pitches, that he locks up for a moment. He is literally so upset that he cannot process his thoughts and words fast enough. But then something clicks and he continues his rant.

6. Joe Girardi (April 28, 2021)
Anytime anybody ejects an umpire from the game it is memorable. Here, Girardi ejects umpire Chris Segal after he warned both benches after the Cardinals hit Bryce Harper in the face and Didi Gregorius in the ribs on consecutive pitches.

Honorable mention: Jonathan Papelbon gave up four runs in the ninth inning in a 5-4 loss to the Marlins on Sept. 14, 2014. As he walked off the field, he got booed. Before Papelbon reached the dugout, he very aggressively grabbed his crotch. West saw it.

“I told him, ‘You’ve got to go,’” West said. “And then he charged out of the dugout and his head bumped into my hat. And I grabbed him and I said, ‘Get off of me.’”