It didn't take long for the excessive celebration rules to be utilized as Hawaii Rainbow Warriors infielder Jordan Donahue was ejected in their season opener against the Ole Miss Rebels on February 16, 2024.
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In the eighth inning, Donahue was ejected by the home plate umpire due to his reaction after drawing a walk to load the bases with the score at 4-3, favoring the Rainbow Warriors.
After drawing the walk, Donahue shouted toward the Rebels dugout before he tossed his bat and headed toward first base. This is what led to him getting tossed by the umpire.
Walking down the first base line, Donahue turns around to see the umpire tossing him. He was visibly confused by the ejection. You can see him saying, "What?" followed by, "What do you mean?"
Fans across X and even Alex Wood of the Oakland Athletics provided opinions of the ejection.
"This is so dumb lol," Wood stated.
https://twitter.com/Riverapr21/status/1763000370966704552
"Let's just take all emotions out of the game! That'll be fun," one user wrote.
https://twitter.com/msduggan/status/1763040380659122506
"Ridiculous. That wasn't even much of a celebration. He may have just been "celebrating" not getting hit in the head by the pitch. That ump should be retired," someone else wrote.
Others did have dissenting opinions, though.
https://twitter.com/NWK1WAYS/status/1763021581947998334
"Cost his team for something he didn't need to do. It wasn't the celebrating of the walk it was the bat throw and stare down. It's not that hard.." someone said.
https://twitter.com/BlankTabasco/status/1763111139934662765
"Hooray for that umpire! That was more than celebrating. It was disrespectful to the other team, the umpire and the fans," another user opined.
The Rainbow Warriors lost this game 5-4, with the Rebels scoring in the top of the 13th inning.
As we head into March, the Rebels are 6-4, while the Rainbow Warriors are 4-4.
