In Thursday's Dodgers-Pirates game, home plate umpire Angel Campos ejected Dodgers star center fielder Matt Kemp from the game while Kemp was sitting on the bench for arguing balls and strikes. Kemp struck out to end the first inning, and his ejection came four pitches into Andre Ethier's at bat to lead off the second.
After Kemp was tossed, he came off the bench along with Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, who came out to protect Kemp. Kemp immediately got in the face of the umpire, and had to be restrained by Shane Victorino, bench coach Trey Hillman, and partially by Mattingly while he argued with the umpire. Kemp also ended up bumping Campos before being taken off the field. Mattingly kept up the fight with the umpires and was ejected himself while apparently arguing about the merits of Kemp getting ejected.
Mattingly's discussion with a trio of umpires was extremely animated, and he eventually got even more upset and went after Campos, who wasn't even involved in Mattingly's argument.
This is an embarrassment for everyone involved. Kemp and Mattingly will likely get fines and suspensions for their antics, but Campos should also receive some discipline for being an instigator in this whole situation. Keith Law of ESPN has used the hashtag #umpshow on occasion when an umpire tries to make himself the center of attention, and that's exactly what happened here. There's no way that Mattingly and Kemp should both be punished while Campos escapes scot-free. It would be absolutely criminal.
