Watching the game, I was thinking about making a post here praising the umpiring crew for the effort made in getting a call on the field right, after calling a brief conference on the field. A missed tag of Kevin Youkilis was initially called safe at third by 3B umpire Mark Carlson. However, Kevin clearly went out of the basepath, stepping onto the grass while avoiding the tag of Alex Rodriguez. Now how Mr. Carlson was watching for a tag, and was right on him not being tagged, but missed somehow didn't see how far Youkilis strayed from the basepath. After a brief Torre arguement, and a brief conference of the umpiring crew, I applaud the fact that the call on the field was reversed and correctly made in the end.
As for Terry Francona: he did what he needed to do. As a matter of fact, if any manager does not exit the dugout to protest after a call is reversed, he probably shouldn't be managing in the first place, regardless of whether the final call on the field was correct.
But anyone who watched this game should realize that I am not writing to applaud the overturn of the initial disasterous call on the field.
Joba Chamberlain, 100-MPH pitching Yankee sensation, enters the game and pitches a scoreless 8th. After several runs were tacked on by the Yanks in the bottom of the 8th, most fans were wondering who would pitch the ninth. As it turns out, it seems Torre made a nice gesture by leaving Joba in the game, with an opportunity to earn his first major league save on what may be one of the biggest regular season stage's possible.
What happened from there is now history. After retiring Ortiz and having the third pitch to Kevin Youkilis sail over his head and into the wall, another pitch was thrown in the exact same location, with the exact same velocity of 98 MPH.
What happened then is unexplainable. Rather than issuing a warning, a rookie pitcher with less than a month of major league time under his belt is tossed from the game without any hesitation by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. The word ludicrous comes to mind. Was he throwing at him, trying to knock him down, or did he somehow just lose control 2 times in a row? Who knows. There didn't seem to be any motive for retaliation, but honestly, we as fans don't know everything that happens on the field and no player will ever admit intent during a post-game interview. But to eject the young man is absolutely inexcusable and shows a complete lack of common sense in enforcing the rules of the game.
Meanwhile, Joe Torre says it right:
"That's absolutely ridiculous," Yankees manager Joe Torre said about the ejection. "Unfortunately, in a lot of situations, the umpires do not apply common sense. And I've seen it too many times. And something has to change. Either they have to school them or do something that certainly gives them a feel for the game better than they showed today." (source)
Torre's words: priceless!
Update 9/4/2007
I've been away for the weekend, but I'm sure you've heard the news. Adding insult to injury, Joba has been suspended 2 games by MLB. (source) This coupled with Roger Clemens' suspension after incidents on August 7th in Toronto seem to indicate that any priorities in MLB are a joke. Angel Hernandez was also the behind the plate in that game. Coincidence?
2 comments:
Angel Hernandez is just a bad umpire. He’s not as confrontational with players as some and I think he does his best, but he simply isn’t very good at his job. Major League Baseball can not continue to trust games that feature the world’s most skilled athletes to dolts like this.
Him and Froemming seem to get the most crap and may be the most hated in MLB. I'll get to him eventually too.
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