Twins right fielder Torii Hunter is hardly the first to grow frustrated by the umpiring work of Mark Ripperger.
Last season alone, Ripperger ejected at least three managers (Joe Maddon, Ryne Sandberg and Ron Roenicke) and at least three players (Felix Hernandez, Matt Holliday and Roberto Hernandez).
Those ejections all came while Ripperger was still a Triple-A Pacific Coast League umpire occasionally filling in for vacationing big-league umpires. In January, he was one of three umpires hired to the full-time roster after piling up the second-highest total of big-league games umpired (142) last season.
His latest major league run-in was Wednesday night at Target Field, where he ejected Hunter for arguing a called third strike in the eighth inning of a 7-2 loss to first-place Kansas City.