Jose Altuve sent off for exposing his feet

There's a time and a place where you can show five to ten toes in front of your peers. Maybe at a group swim or something. But the general rule is: If you're in public, your feet can't be seen. Jose Altuve didn't follow that maxim and was summarily ejected from a wild Astros win over the Padres for foot offenses.

Altuve ended the ninth inning with a groundout to third base, leaving the lead runner on second base with the score tied 3-3 and giving San Diego a chance to bat the ball. Houston's diminutive second baseman, however, didn't even attempt to run to first base, claiming he fouled the pitch with his left foot. Video of the play (7:43 in the highlight video below) shows quite clearly that Altuve did indeed hit his foot, although home plate umpire Brennan Miller didn't believe it. Despite protests from Altuve and his manager Joe Espada, the play could not be reviewed and the original decision therefore stood — which didn't stop Altuve from taking off his socks to provide evidence. Miller drew the line at toe exposure and ejected Altuve.

The ejection was Altuve's second ejection this season based on his left foot. He was ejected from a game against the Mets in June under almost exactly the same circumstances. That's one reason he and Espada were so upset after the game. Espada said, “You have to see the ball when it hits the foot, the trajectory of the ball. I don't get it. I don't understand it. It's happened twice this year. I have a lot of respect for the umpires. They work hard. But there are four out there. You have to be able to see it. They missed that call.”

The Astros, baseball's least likely to complain about fairness, were rewarded for their bad luck: Altuve's replacement, Grae Kessinger, became the hero by scoring the game-winning run in the tenth inning and then making the game's final out. There was still time for another controversial play in between. This time, it made everyone angry.

With two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning, Jurickson Profar was almost, but not quite, hit by a pitch. However, Miller concluded that he had been grazed and sent him to first base. Both benches were furious at another missed call, and although the Padres contested the call and Profar appeared not to have been hit, the play was upheld. Machado was grounded out by Kessinger moments later.

Unlike Espada, Padres manager Mike Shildt was less upset after the loss and more appreciative of a game that offered “a lot of strategy, a lot of situations.” Sorry, sir, but the bar is now at one foot, and if you want to show your players you care, it's time to take your socks off.