Brewers pitcher Abner Uribe apologizes after controversial strikeout celebration sparks backlash
In modern baseball, every celebration gets praised, and anyone criticizing it gets treated like a buzzkill.
Milwaukee Brewers reliever Abner Uribe tested those boundaries on Tuesday.
With the Brewers coasting to a 6-0 lead in the eighth inning, the 25-year-old struck out Alec Burleson and immediately launched into a series of WWE-style, D-Generation X crotch chops.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy was flat-out appalled.
"I don’t know what got over him," Murphy said postgame. "I mean, he’s an emotional guy, but that kind of thing, that’s just not how we do things. I was embarrassed by it... It’s a 6-0 game. What are we doing there?"
Uribe later apologized to his teammates for the celebration. But the reliever also pushed back at Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol.
"First and foremost, everyone here knows me and knows who I am, and knows I have a bit of a history of being emotional out there," Uribe said.
"I owe an apology to the Brewers, I owe an apology to my teammates, to my manager, all the bosses of the team. I understand that’s unacceptable to go out there and react in a way like that."
The Brewers reliever is no stranger to controversy. In May 2024, Jose Siri tried swinging at Uribe during a dugout-clearing quarrel.
"I don’t think it’s professional for their manager to be making signs toward our dugout saying that he’s going to be hitting guys," Uribe continued.
"There’s an event that occurred during practice today, too, and I don’t think that’s right. I have my teammates’ back, always."
Fans quickly fractured over Uribe’s antics. Anyone who agreed with Murphy was promptly dismissed as a "wet blanket" by social media.
"Even us Brewers fans are embarrassed by this," BrewersWin posted on X.
Some leaned into the mayhem. "If they feel the need to bean us tomorrow, so be it," one fan added on X. "It means it worked."
"Someone is wearing one in the earhole for that," another user reacted.
But at the root of the discourse is an age-old baseball question: Is Uribe actually good enough to back up this level of disrespect?
So far, the numbers say no. Entering Tuesday, Uribe owned a shaky 4.42 ERA over 18.1 innings this season, a wild contrast to his exceptional 2.60 career average.
The Brewers ultimately secured the 6-0 victory, locking down the win against their divisional rivals.
For one night, Uribe's performance was clean enough.
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