MLB Punishes Brewers Pitcher For Allegedly Obscene Gesture
Pelvic thrusting is all the rage in Major League Baseball these days.
The San Francisco Giants‘ outfielders congregated after the final out of their May 12 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their celebratory gesture turned into a viral gif, became the subject of team a meeting with manager Tony Vitello, and briefly spawned a copycat postgame celebration among the New York Mets‘ outfielders.
Sensitivity toward the gesture - dubbed “MLB’s gayest celebration yet” by one outlet - has only heightened since. The Giants toned down their postgame pelvic thrusts, putting newtwists on a single-thrust move after subsequent wins this month.
When Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Abner Uribe performed a three-thrust gesture toward the St. Louis Cardinals’ dugout on May 26, MLB hammered back.
The league announced May 29 that it was suspending Uribe for one game for "his inappropriate actions towards the St. Louis Cardinals' dugout during the top of the eighth inning of Tuesday's game at American Family Field."
The pitcher promptly appealed, and will be allowed to pitch against the Houston Astros unless his suspension is upheld before the 7:10 p.m. game.
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The thrust of Uribe’s celebration was different from the Giants’ - literally and figuratively. He was celebrating a strikeout of Alec Burleson in a 6-0 game and trying to make a statement at the same time.
After Brewers manager Pat Murphy called Uribe’s gesture “embarrassing,” the pitcher ultimately apologized.
"Everyone here knows me and knows who I am, and knows I have a bit of a history of being emotional out there,” he told reporters in Milwaukee. “I think first I owe an apology to the Brewers. I owe an apology to my teammates, to my manager, all the bosses of the team. I understand that's unacceptable, to go out there and react in a way like that.
"But at the same time, I don't think it's unprofessional for their manager to be making signs towards our dugout saying that he's going to be hitting guys."
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St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol made a gesture that Uribe interpreted as a sign to hit a Brewers batter with a pitch. But no Brewers were hit by pitches in the game, and Marmol said that wasn’t his intent.
Christian Yelich, the veteran Brewers outfielder, told reporters the next day that the situation was “handled,” both internally in the clubhouse and externally with the Cardinals.
Ostensibly, MLB didn’t believe that was enough. Now the league has inserted itself into the situation - calling even more attention to a celebration it ostensibly would like to disappear.
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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 3:07 PM.