Ball-and-strike calls lead to MLB ejections on three separate fronts Wednesday; who had a legit complaint, and who didn’t
The war between umpires and uniformed personnel erupted on four fronts Wednesday. The body count of MLB ejections including players, coaches and managers eventually reached seven.
Easily the most highly publicized of those incidents occurred in Chicago, where the White Sox and Royals engaged in a benches-clearing confrontation after Sox infielder Tim Anderson was hit by a Brad Keller fastball. In his previous at-bat, Anderson had homered, punctuating it with a conspicuous and very verbal bat flip, at least part of which Royals personnel took exception to.
Both because of its unique nature and because it raises legitimate questions concerning payer decorum, that incident merits separate consideration. The other three, however, were all variations on a common theme: Ump rings up player, somebody disagrees, temperatures rise and the ump hits the ejection button.
Within a few hours on Wednesday, a player, a manager and a coach all were invited to depart the premises after they took exception to an umpire’s interpretation of events. It may be coincidental, but in all three cases, the aggrieved team was wearing its road grays rather than home whites.
In Los Angeles, Reds manager David Bell was tossed in the fifth inning by plate umpire Nick Mahrle. In St. Petersburg, umpire C.B. Bucknor invited Baltimore coach Tim Cossins to make himself scarce in the third inning. And in Arlington, Los Angeles Angels first baseman Justin Bour was excused in the ninth inning by plate umpire Jeremie Rehak.
Each incident is interesting due in part to their differing circumstances. One occurred early in the game, one in mid-game and one at game’s end. One of the games was scoreless at the time, one was out of hand, and the third took place at an absolutely pivotal moment. In one the umpire was absolutely blameless; in the others, the umpire was absolutely wrong.
While the specifics of the MLB ejections varied, they encompassed several recurring themes in the umpire-dugout relationship that are worth looking at in greater detail.