After arguing with Angels catcher Juan Graterol during today’s fourth inning, A’s third baseman Matt Chapman received the very special honor of his first career ejection. The argument had its origins in a larger beef over whether or not the A’s were stealing signs—they swear that they weren’t, the Angels maintain that they were, there were reportedly no fancy watches involved, so who cares—but to hear Chapman discuss it afterward, he was specifically concerned with how Graterol was disrespecting him and his teammates by, uh, looking at them weirdly and thereby implying that they were sign-stealing? From CSN Bay Area:
“As you can see on video, the catcher kept staring at every single hitter as they were digging into the box. That’s not a very comfortable feeling, having the catcher staring at you while you’re digging in the box. It’s a little disrespectful, to be honest.
“… Even though we are a young group of guys, I feel like we deserve to be treated just like anybody else in the big leagues and be respected by our opponents. I did it out of respect for my teammates and respect for myself.”
Please treat Matt Chapman and his last-place teammates with respect. Do not stare at them while they’re getting in the box. Just look away. Thanks.