Every pitcher has a bad inning. Not every pitcher gets caught on a hot mic calling the guy standing near second base a "fat motherfucker" while storming off the mound. That's the spot Reds lefty Caleb Ferguson found himself in after a blowup at umpire Bill Miller that's been running laps around Barstool's baseball accounts for a full day now.
"Fucking fatass. Get out of the way. Fat motherfucker." You think Caleb Ferguson is a fan of Umpire Bill Miller?
The context makes it messier. Reds second baseman Edwin Arroyo was trying to make a play on a ball in play and Miller, working second base, ended up in the way. Ferguson lost it, and according to the post captured on video, the target of his rage got a very specific insult: "Get out of the way. Fat motherfucker." Miller, a veteran ump, didn't eject him. He just stood there and took it.
Turns out the moment came at the worst possible time for Ferguson's frustration levels. Reporting on the incident notes it happened shortly after Cal Raleigh had already put the Mariners up big with a grand slam off Ferguson, meaning he was already boiling over before Miller ever got in the way of anything. That's not an excuse for the language, but it explains why a routine fielding mishap turned into a full meltdown caught on camera.
The clip didn't stay contained to one account. By the next afternoon it had been re-posted with photos and quotes attached, the kind of viral spread that turns a dugout tantrum into a 24-hour news cycle.
"Get Out of The Way! Fat Motherfucker!" – Reds Pitcher Caleb Ferguson Was NOT Happy With Umpire Bill Miller For Obstructing Play @JohnRichTV
By Tuesday night, before the Reds and Mariners played again, Ferguson had already walked it back. He told reporters it was "very unprofessional" of him to go at Miller the way he did, which is about as clean an apology as you're going to get for calling an umpire a fat motherfucker on live television. No suspension, no fine reported, just a guy owning up to a bad look.
It's a small moment in the grand scheme of a Reds season, but it's the kind of clip that outlives the box score. Ferguson signed a 1-year, $4.5 million deal with Cincinnati this offseason after bouncing between the Pirates and Mariners last year, and instead of being known for his numbers out of the bullpen, he's spending his week being known for two words strung together at an umpire. That's the trade-off with going viral for the wrong reason — the apology never travels as far as the outburst did.