Tom Kelly managed 2,385 career regular-season games for the Twins between 1986 and 2001, and he was ejected just five times in that entire span (and never more than once in a season).
Twins fans had quite an adjustment, then, when the more mercurial Ron Gardenhire took over as manager in 2002. Gardy had four ejections that season, tied for the most in the American League. as the Twins won the AL Central. Gardenhire would lead or co-lead the AL in ejections seven more times, including six years in a row from 2006-2011.
His fuse was short enough while his ejection list was long enough — 71 with the Twins and 13 more with the Tigers — to rank No. 7 on MLB's all-time list and to inspire a 47-minute YouTube compilation.
The days of Twins managers kicking up dirt, gesturing wildly and leading viewers on a lip-reading journey largely ended, though, when Gardenhire was fired after five ejections and a fourth-straight 90-loss season in 2014.
Paul Molitor, Gardenhire's replacement, was tossed just eight times in four seasons. Rocco Baldelli took over in 2019 and brought continued serenity. He was ejected six times in his first three seasons. Neither Molitor nor Baldelli were given the heave-ho more than three times in any year from 2015-2021.
But the mood and temperament has changed in 2022, as I talked about on Wednesday's Daily Delivery podcast.
Baldelli was ejected from Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Astros for protesting being charged a mound visit — and for the lack of clarity that ensued — during a wild fifth inning.
It was Baldelli's second ejection this month and his fourth this season — the most for a Twins manager in a single year since the red-faced Gardenhire era.
