Umpire apologizes after calling for civil war if Trump is impeached

October 25, 2019

Major League Baseball umpire Rob Drake is apologizing for a tweet that landed him in hot water. Drake tweeted earlier this week that he would be “buying an AR-15” and warned of “Cival War” if President Trump is impeached from office. He later deleted it and now appears to have shut down his Twitter account.

“I want to personally apologize to everyone that my words made feel less safe,” Drake said in a statement obtained by ESPN Thursday night. “I also acknowledge and apologize for the controversy this has brought to Major League Baseball, my fellow umpires, and my family. I never intended to diminish the threat of violence from assault weapons, or violence of any kind.”

“I’m going to learn from this,” he added.

On Tuesday night, Drake tweeted about the ongoing House impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump: “I will be buying an AR-15 tomorrow, because if you impeach MY PRESIDENT this way, YOU WILL HAVE ANOTHER CIVAL WAR!!! #MAGA2020,” he wrote, according to ESPN, which had a copy of the tweet before he deleted it.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Wednesday the league would look into the tweet by Drake, who has been a full-time umpire since 2010. Drake was not working postseason games this year.

The MLB Umpires Association issued a statement about the tweet, saying: “Rob is a passionate individual and an outstanding umpire. He chose the wrong way to convey his opinion about our great country. His posting does not represent the view of the MLBUA or reflect those of the umpires we represent.”

This is the second controversy to mire the 2019 World Series that has nothing to do with baseball. The Houston Astros fired assistant general manager Brandon Taubman on Thursday after an investigation into his expletive-filled celebration of a controversial player apparently directed at a group of female reporters.

Sports Illustrated reported that Taubman had turned to the female reporters after the Astros defeated the Yankees in the ALCS and yelled: “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f—ing glad we got Osuna!” He was referring to pitcher Roberto Osuna, picked up by the Astros after he was arrested on domestic violence charges in 2018 for allegedly assaulting the mother of his young child. Osuna received a 75-game suspension but assault charges were later dropped.