This blog is dedicated to the biggest scum in all of sports. The ones who have too much power and abuse it. The ones who attempt not to be biased, but blantantly are. The ones with hidden agendas. The ones we call umpires. The ones we call judges. The ones we call referees. Yes, This blog is dedicated to the officials who often sabotage the past times we know and love.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Padres Season Sabotaged!!!

So now the question is whose to blame: Milton Bradley or first-base umpire Mike Winters?

If you think I'm going to blame the disgruntled man who was named after a board game manufacturer, you haven't been reading this blog long enough.

First off, Bradley was upset and reacted to what he thought was a bad call on a 3rd strike. So why would an umpire at first base need to further any argument 3 innings later? I'm sure working under crew chief Bruce Froemming would help uphold the integrity of these umpires.. Yeah, okay....

According to Bradley, Winters called him a "Bleeping piece of Bleep". Wait, is that profanity? I think you're overreacting here Milton! But if the Padres first base coach Bobby Meachum (uh, the memories!) is siding with this guy, you would think the umpire said something out of line, contrary to Froemming's claim that Winters simply told Bradley to "knock it off".

The rest of the story is now the beginning of the end to Milton's season. Manager Bud Black restrained Bradley, giving him a season ending knee-injury in the process. If I had to guess, if it weren't for the injury, Bradley would have been thrown from the game and suspended a few games, during a playoff push, nonetheless.

But will anything come of Mike Winters and his prodding of a loose-cannon type player? I wouldn't hold my breath. Todd Helton, the first baseman of the opposing Colorado Rockies, would be the only impartial person who was there for the entire exchange. He should probably speak out, but I don't blame him for not doing so. He is on a team that is also in a playoff race and a distraction like this really doesn't benefit him or his team. The only hope is if Selig somehow questions Helton on the interaction. Again, I'm not holding my breath.

I've kind of been routing for the Padres this season, only because they were my pre-season favorite for the NL West. To be honest, I don't really care about the Padres at this point. Winning the wild card does not give my pre-season division winner picks any credibility. If the NL Wild Card race continues to go down to the wire, you'll hear a lot about this incident in weeks to come in Southern California. Milton Bradley was doing pretty well on an offensively lacking team.

Ahh, another day, another official abusing his power with zero consequences....

If there's any justice, the Padres will keep winning


Update 9/26 4:16 PM

Okay, is MLB reading my blog? Maybe I'm not paying close enough attention, but not even an hour after writing the initial entry to this post I see the headline "MLB suspends umpire over confrontation".

Hooray for something actually being done! MLB, I am impressed.

5 comments:

Charles L. Wallace said...

No matter HOW ya slice it, pretty much all involved are tainted. Looks on first glance that Winters stepped across the line. Bradley is guilty of contributory negligence as far as I am concerned, though. If he had reacted professionally, Bud Black would not have had to touch him, let alone spin him to the ground. Too many hotheads. Suspend both, I say.

saucy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
saucy said...

Yeah, Bradley isn't innocent here at all, but i'm not sure if i'd suspend him. The guy's been a mess for a while now and was provoked. the home-plate umpire should have confronted him at the time of the incident (if the bat throwing was actually an incident worth confronting him for, he would know it then), not innings later. umpires should not let there personal feelings get involved and they should not hold 3 inning grudges. it seems like this was the case.

I just figured that whatever happened, nothing would happen to Winters and it would be a case of one guy's word against another's.

Shows how much I know...

Charles L. Wallace said...

Times are a-changin, my friend :-)
Accountability rules!

Todd Drew said...

Mike Winters is a lousy umpire and he is only one in a long line of lousy Major League umpires. It has nothing to do with balls and strikes or safe and out, it is all about their aggressive behavior.

Players are emotionally involved in the game and umpires are not supposed to be. Umpires should be “peace officers” and they are anything but that. They are loudmouthed bullies. They really need a whole new approach to doing their job.