What Was This Umpire Thinking With Cody Bellinger During His Dodgers Reunion?

The new pitch clock is great but it comes with a few major disadvantages (no not just talking about the active beer selling time at Dodger Stadium). On Friday night, the Dodgers welcomed Cody Bellinger back to Chavez Ravine for the first time since he joined the Cubs. Given his career and everything he accomplished in Dodger blue, it was obvious that he was going to get a long and loud ovation as he was announced for his first at-bat.

Then the awkwardness happened.

As Belli took a beat to appreciate the 50,000+ fans cheering for him, the pitch clock kept on ticking down. He stepped into the box as the clock hit 8 seconds left and was he assessed a violation.

Very dumb.

After the game, he addressed the violation saying that he and home plate umpire Jim Wolf were “going to have a word tomorrow.”

It’s a silly footnote in an otherwise nice return home for Cody. Even better for him, his Cubs eventually beat the Dodgers in a 8-2 laugher.

Reactions Around Baseball

One person close to the Dodgers that took exception, even without calling the parties out by name, is long time Bellinger teammate Alex Wood. The former Dodger took to Twitter to sound off about the pitch clock, special moments, and it needing to get better.

Another former Dodger, Brock Stewart, agreed.