Umpire Rubs Pitcher’s Ear To Make Sure He’s Not Cheating. Player Becomes Irate With Opposing Team

An umpire rubbed San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove’s ear Sunday during a game against the New York Mets to make sure he wasn’t cheating.

During the bottom of the sixth, Mets manager Buck Showalter requested umpires check Musgrove’s ears to see if he was using a sticky substance after he noticed Musgrove comparing two balls and had something shiny in his ears.

Umpires paused the game and checked Musgrove’s ears, glove and hat, but found nothing.

Mets have the umpires check Musgrove’s ears for a foreign substance, a breakdown pic.twitter.com/dqwdKGmS2A

— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) October 10, 2022

“I think he was checking for some sort of substance that was helping me spin the ball,” Musgrove told reporters after the game, according to CNN. “I’ve seen it before.” (RELATED: Family Goes Wild In Stands As Mets Player Brett Baty Gets Home Run On His First Swing In The Majors)

“At that point in the game when it happened, I was so dialed in already, all my pitches felt good. I felt like I was executing, so I almost just let it kind of fire into me.”

Padres manager Bob Melvin ripped the move and said Musgrove is a “man of character,” according to CNN.

“Questioning his character, to me, that’s the part I have a problem with. I’m here to tell everybody that Joe Musgrove is as above board as any pitcher I know, any player I know.”

Showalter said he only requested the check of Musgrove because he gets “a lot of information in the dugout” and is “charged with doing what was best for the New York Mets,” CNN reported.

The San Diego Padres won 6-0 and moved onto the National League Division Series.