With Lou Piniella watching, Mariners manager Dan Wilson gets ejected
In front of his former manager, Lou Piniella, Seattle Mariners skipper Dan Wilson was ejected from Tuesday's game at Tampa Bay.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - AUGUST 29: Manager Dan Wilson #6 of the Seattle Mariners is held back by bench coach Manny Acta #14, as he argues with umpires during the eighth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on August 29, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
Dan Wilson was witness to the most memorable manager ejections in Seattle Mariners history when he played for Lou Piniella.
On Tuesday night, it was Piniella who witnessed Wilson get the heave-ho.
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Wilson was ejected for the second time in his managerial career, getting tossed by home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez in the top of the third inning of a game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The ejection came after an 0-0 high fastball to rookie second baseman Cole Young was called a strike. Per Mariners insider Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports, Wilson was ejected after defending a Mariners player who made a comment in the dugout.
That was presumably right fielder Dominic Canzone, who was ejected along with Wilson. Luke Raley replaced Canzone in the game.
Piniella, who is a Tampa native and visited the Mariners before the game, was shown in the crowd at Steinbrenner Field on the ROOT Sports TV broadcast after Wilson’s ejection. While also a former Rays manager, he seemed to be on the Mariners’ side in this case, throwing his hands in disgust after Wilson’s ejection.
Lou Piniella's reaction to Dan Wilson being ejected here in Tampa, caught via the @ROOTSPORTS_NW video feed: pic.twitter.com/4nSDEKmOGA
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) September 3, 2025
Was Wilson’s ejection a tribute to Piniella? Was it on purpose to fire up a Mariners team that has scuffled on the road? Hard to say, though the M’s did respond in the fourth inning with three solo home runs off of Rays All-Star pitcher and Spokane native Drew Rasmussen to take a 3-2 lead. That included back-to-back shots by Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez.
Wilson was previously ejected on May 25 during a loss at Houston.
Piniella, who managed Wilson with the Mariners in the 1990s and early 2000s, is considered the greatest manager in club history. He led the M’s to an 840-711 record from 1993 through 2003, taking the team to the playoffs four times and winning a pair of American League Manager of the Year awards.
Piniella is known perhaps just as much for his fiery personality and ejection-worthy tantrums as his winning ways in Seattle. Of his 64 career ejections as a manager over 23 years with five different teams, the majority – 28 – came with the Mariners.
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Comments
1 Comments
They since tied the game and gave the lead right back. This is a poor team with NO killer instinct and could use a Piniella. They will be lucky to make the playoffs. Their bullpen is the weakest link.