Reds' star Hunter Greene gets last laugh again after another idiotic umpire overreach

For those who were unable to stay awake for the Cincinnati Reds late-night affair on Monday in San Francisco, starting pitcher Hunter Greene absolutely dominated the Giants. Greene was one out away from a complete game shutout, but finished the night going 8 ⅔ innings with seven strikeouts.

Greene gave the Reds — who still only managed to score two runs — a much needed performance on the mound. After his ninth-inning exit, reliever Tony Santillan came in to finish off the San Francisco Giants, and a line drive out to left fielder Jacob Hurtubise allowed the Reds get back in the win column with a 2-0 victory.

But Greene's start was not without controversy. The Reds' ace was forced to change his glove prior to Monday's start with umpires citing designs and logos on Greene's mitt that were deemed too distracting to the hitters.

Reds' star Hunter Greene gets last laugh again after another idiotic umpire overreach

FanDuel Sports Network field reporter Jim Day had the scoop and stated during the broadcast that the 'shiny' Nike logo on Greene's glove was one of the reasons the right-hander was forced to switch gloves. Greene was approached by home plate umpire John Tumpaine before he faced a single Giants' batter, and after a lengthy conversation with Reds manager Terry Francona and Giants' skipper Bob Melvin, he switched to a beige-colored glove.

Tomas Vera and the Reds staff feverishly attempted to cover up the logo and replace the webbing in an effort to reverse Tumpaine's veto. But the Reds' starter never switched back to his game-glove, and instead kept the beige-color leather throughout the entire 8 ⅔ innings.

This wasn't the first time that an umpire forced Greene to make an alteration prior to a game. Some Reds fans might remember a game in April of last season when the white-colored Nike logos on Greene's long-sleeve shirt were considered too distracting.

This isn't the first time Hunter Greene had to alter his equipment

Rather than have him change into a different shirt, however, the umpires took a permanent marker and blacked-out the logo on Greene's sleeves. Greene went seven scoreless against the Texas Rangers that night, while striking out six and allowing just one hit.

In the end, the glove obviously didn't affect Greene's performance, and with as superstitious as pitchers can be, Greene may want to use the beige-colored glove with a long-sleeve Nike shirt that has the logo blacked-out the next time he takes the hill.

Greene is now 2-0 having gone 15 ⅔ innings of scoreless baseball while allowing just five hits and striking out 13 batters when an umpire takes issue with his equipment. Maybe Greene should wear a huge diamond-studded necklace during his next start, or maybe a flashy new pair of Nike shoes would do the trick.

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