By Steve DelVecchio | August 7, 2012 - Posted in Baseball
It’s always nice to see umpires get together on the field to make sure they made the right call after a questionable play, but sometimes it doesn’t work out. During the seventh inning of the Dodgers-Rockies game on Monday night, Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler made what appeared to be a nice catch on a sinking liner. The call could have gone either way, as it appeared to just barely knick the ground but for the most part Fowler had it in the web of his glove. The umpire initially called it a catch.
However, Mike Estabrook changed the call to a trap after meeting with the rest of the umpiring crew. Considering how close of a play it was, they probably should have just let the call on the field stand — which appeared to be the right one. This infuriated Colorado manager Jim Tracy and led to some amazing commentary from Vin Scully, who lip-read from Tracy as he was being ejected.
By Larry Brown | August 4, 2012 - Posted in Baseball
Buffalo Bisons (Triple-A Mets) manager Wally Backman was suspended three games by the International League for his confrontation with Syracuse Chiefs (Triple-A Nationals) manager Tony Beasley on Friday.
The two nearly came to blows over Backman’s belief that Syracuse was stealing signs. The Bisons won the game 13-7 even though Backman was ejected in the fourth.
Answering questions after the game, Backman explained why he was so upset.
“The one thing that I would say is don’t insult my intelligence in the game,” Backman said, per the Buffalo News. “I watched it happen in the series before where players were giving location to hitters. And don’t insult my intelligence. I’ve played the game way too long. I know everything about the game. That’s what they’ve been doing. That’s what they’ve done. We put a stop to it the last time we played and I had to say something tonight. It was just. The game of baseball has some integrity to it, especially in the United States. It might not be that way in other places at times, but here we have some integrity in the game and I expect the game to be played fair and the right way.
“I watched the catcher do it twice. I watched other guys do it. There’s a couple of guys that don’t do it. I don’t play that game. There’s integrity to the game. When those things happen, I’ve got a problem with it. I won’t let somebody play me into being stupid at all. I know the game very well. I know all the things you can do in the game to show location, to show signs and all those type of things. And if you get caught, you stop. If you don’t stop then we have a problem. And that’s where we had a problem tonight.”
Backman is notorious for his profanity-laced blowups, so Friday’s ejection was tame by his standards. Below are several videos of Backman getting ejected in the past.
By Larry Brown | June 28, 2011 - Posted in Baseball
Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland went on an awesome tirade last night during the Tigers-Blue Jays game. Check out what happened during the 7th inning that led to his ejection:
I was watching that live on Monday and joked that it lasted so long there was enough time to read an entire Bill Simmons article while he was ranting. Let’s make sure everyone knows that reversing the call was the right decision by the umpires, but I understand why Leyland was ticked. Still, I’m always pleased when umpires get the call right, regardless of whether or not they have to reverse their initial decision. You telling me Leyland wouldn’t have been satisfied had the umpires done that with Armando Galarraga?
By Larry Brown | June 21, 2011 - Posted in Baseball
Ozzie Guillen got tossed during the 6th inning of Monday’s White Sox-Cubs game. Ozzie was actually justified in his complaint because Alexei Ramirez’s ball appeared to be in foul territory when catcher Geovany Soto touched it. It’s no wonder he went nuts. Check out the ejection video:
The best part easily was Geovany Soto’s reaction to seeing Ozzie kick his mask. Soto was a fan enjoying the action like the rest of us. Maybe this was just an umpire conspiracy to give us our weekly dose of Ozzie entertainment.
What you are about to see is Kash Beauchamp, manager of the Wichita Wingnuts. And yes, he is crazy.
Video via FanIQ. And much like 100% Injury Rate, I cannot possibly show this without comparing it to the Phillip Wellman blowup — the standard bearer for all minor league managerial meltdowns.
By Larry Brown | June 2, 2007 - Posted in YouTubeage
Thanks to my man Jay of My Sports Talk for passing along this fantastic gem of a video. It’s of minor league manager Phillip Wellman. I would give you the description, but that would just take away from the magnificence of it, ya know? So just watch for yourself:
The fact that he’s a short, stocky, bald guy makes this all that much better. And for my money, it doesn’t get much better than Wellman going Full Metal Jacket on the rosin bag. Oh, that is priceless. It’s a toss up between this, and Joe Mikulik for best performance by a manager while getting tossed. I think the Oscar goes to Wellman.
It’s always nice to see umpires get together on the field to make sure they made the right call after a questionable play, but sometimes it doesn’t work out. During the seventh inning of the Dodgers-Rockies game on Monday night, Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler made what appeared to be a nice catch on a sinking liner. The call could have gone either way, as it appeared to just barely knick the ground but for the most part Fowler had it in the web of his glove. The umpire initially called it a catch.
