Major League Baseball has privately told umpire Doug Eddings he overstepped by ordering St Louis Cardinals rookie reliever Hancel Rincon to straighten his tilted cap during a game against the Colorado Rockies. The intervention, on Rincon's major league debut, prompted an angry confrontation with Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, who was ejected after telling Eddings to "grow up," and reignited debate over umpires exercising discretion on player appearance rather than the game itself.

Eddings claimed a Rockies batter had complained about the crooked cap, but the only player who had faced Rincon at that point, Hunter Goodman, denied ever raising the issue. Rincon said Eddings later apologised to him and wished him well, while several Cardinals players wore their caps deliberately tilted in a show of solidarity before the next game. The Athletic reported that MLB subsequently spoke to Eddings, telling the veteran official that although umpires have broad discretion over distracting player conduct, he had gone too far in this instance.