Umpire Doug Eddings apologized to pitcher Hansel Rincon for issuing a bizarre hat warning during Rincon's MLB debut on Friday night. According to Rincon, Eddings also wished him good luck for the rest of his career as a big-leaguer. On Friday, Eddings had told Rincon to straighten his hat before pitching, prompting Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol to get into an argument with Eddings and be ejected from the game. The incident sparked a show of support for Rincon among his teammates, who wore their hats crookedly in protest during batting practice and the game on Saturday.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Here is a summary of the news story in 7-9 sentences:
On Friday night, umpire Doug Eddings told Hancel Rincon, a rookie pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, to straighten his hat before he pitched in his MLB debut against the Colorado Rockies. Rincon's hat was tilted to one side, which Eddings deemed unacceptable, despite it being a common way for many players to wear their hats. The incident escalated when Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol got into an argument with Eddings and was eventually ejected from the game. After the game, Marmol expressed his disapproval of Eddings' behavior, saying he thought the umpire was being "power-hungry." On Saturday, MLB informed Eddings that he made a mistake in demanding Rincon straighten his hat. In response to the controversy, several Cardinals players wore their hats tilted in support of Rincon before a game on Saturday. Eddings has since apologized to Rincon for his actions.
Written for “MLB Umpiring Controversy” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
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No political leaning scored for article 5770 · logged 2026-09-06
A day after telling Hancel Rincon to straighten his hat, and subsequently ejecting Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, umpire Doug Eddings apologized to the pitcher over the incident.
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Eddings → tell → incident
“He apologized for what happened [Friday] night,” Rincon told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch via the team’s interpreter.
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Rincon → apologize → interpreter
“He also told me good luck for the rest of my career as a big-leaguer.”
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He → tell → leaguer
Rincon, per MLB.com, told Eddings not to worry and that it wasn’t anything personal.
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it → tell → Eddings
Eddings asked Rincon to straighten his hat before he pitched to Hunter Goodman to start the bottom of the sixth on Friday night in an eventual 7-6 Cardinals win over the Rockies.
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he → ask → Rockies
Rincon allowed a triple, an inside the park home run and a single before being removed from the game for Justin Bruihl, and while Bruihl warmed up, Marmol got in Eddings’ face and was ejected.
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Marmol → allow → face
“He took it upon himself to tell our rookie pitcher, the kid’s ‘Not gonna wear his hat on my field that way.’
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kid → take → field
You got Dontrelle Willis, CC Sabathia, Pedro Strop — plenty of guys that have worn it way more tilted,” Marmol told reporters Friday.
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Marmol → got → reporters
“I have an issue with that.
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I → have → that
“I had no idea why he told me to do that,” Rincon told reporters Friday.
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Rincon → have → reporters
“It’s fine.”
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It → ’ → ?
Eddings told reporters after the game that Goodman had asked if the hat could be worn that way, an account which Goodman himself denied.
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Goodman → tell → which
During batting practice on Saturday, most Cardinals players wore their hats crooked in protest.
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players → wear → protest
A number did so during the game, too, as did a handful of Rockies players.
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handful → do → players
“I felt big support from my teammates,” Rincon said.
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Rincon → feel → teammates
“Obviously when you are together, like this group, we’re gonna be so much better.”
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we → go → group
