Milwaukee Brewers reliever Abner Uribe has issued an apology after his crotch-chopping, WWE-inspired on-mound celebration angered opponents, fans and even his own manager, Pat Murphy.
The incident took place in the top of the eighth inning in Milwaukee on Tuesday after Uribe struck out St. Louis Cardinals Alec Burleson to retire the side with two runners left stranded and the Brewers leading 6-0.
What followed is familiar to ‘Attitude Era’ WWE fans of the late 1990s, when a group of performers nicknamed ‘D-Generation X’ came up with a two-armed salute dubbed the ‘crotch chop.’ The intricate gesture involves forming an ‘X’ with one’s wrist before quickly thrust both hands down towards one’s groin while yelling ‘suck it.’
The gesture has resurfaced countless times in pop culture, from the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire to HBO’s 2010s series, Eastbound & Down, where it was performed by fictional relief pitcher, Kenny Powers.
This time, though, Uribe appeared to be directing at the Cardinals’ dugout.
‘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 is pictured imitating the D-Generation X ‘crotch chop’ after striking out Alec Burleson
The chop involves making an ‘X’ with the wrists before thrusting the arms down to the crotch
Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy admitted he was ’embarrassed’ by Uribe’s gesture
Uribe has since apologized, but not without pointing a finger at Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, whom he accused of threatening to throw at Brewers players.
‘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,’ the Dominican-born Uribe said through a translator.
‘I owe an apology to the Brewers, I owe an apology to my teammates, to my manager, all the bosses of the team,’ he continued. ‘I understand that’s unacceptable to go out there and react in a way like that.’
The translator then added Uribe’s message about Marmol.
‘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,’ he said. ‘There’s an event that occurred during practice today, too, and I don’t think that’s right. I have my teammates’ back, always.’
Wrestler Shawn Michaels does the ‘crotch chop’ from atop a turnbuckle back in 1997
Fans took issue with Uribe’s antics on social media – and not just Cardinals supporters.
‘Even us Brewers fans are embarrassed by this,’ one Milwaukee supporter wrote on X.
Several fans suggested someone will take a pitch in the ‘earhole’ of their helmet in response to Uribe, who has never had a single plate appearance as a hitter.
‘This is why pitchers should have to bat,’ one fan added, lamenting the National League’s adoption of the designated hitter in 2022.
A talented, flame-throwing right hander from Santo Domingo, the wiry Uribe has battled through an up-and-down career over four MLB seasons. A year ago, he appeared to put his struggles behind him by posting an impressive 1.67 earned-run average (ERA) over 75 innings of work.
This year, in 21 games thus far, Uribe has far-less impressive 4.19 ERA, while his strikeout percentage has fallen from 30.2 to 26.3.
The first-place Brewers will host the Cardinals at 1:40pm EST in Wednesday’s series finale.
