ARLINGTON, Texas — An argument in the second inning of Wednesday night's Astros/Rangers match-up resulted in home plate umpire Ron Kulpa ejecting Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron and manager A.J. Hinch from the game in Arlington.
In videos and photos that quickly sprung up on social media, Kulpa can be seen in a shouting match with Hinch, culminating in Kulpa repeatedly saying what looks like "I can do whatever I want!"
Social media reaction from both Rangers and Astros fans was swift...and fierce.
As of this writing, Kulpa's Wikipedia entry has been changed to say that he is "a blind umpire in Major League Baseball" and "he was the first participant in a program by Major League Baseball to provide jobs in professional sports for people with congnitive [sic] impairments."
Kulpa is no stranger to controversy, and Rangers fans will know him well — He blew a call in 2011 during the Rangers-Cardinals World Series, getting into an argument with Texas' then-manager Ron Washington, and his call set the stage for a Cardinals win.
