Is it me, or are these umpires out of control this year? Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate the awesome job that major league umps do. I appreciate their talent. But stay out of the game emotionally. Stay neutral. That’s your job. I’m not even against ejecting players who vociferously argue balls and strikes. But don’t incite them. Don’t get in their face and scream back at them and then throw them out. You’re basically poking a wild animal in a cage with a stick. That’s just stupid. You’re exercising your power in an immature way. Have you ever seen an NBA official, or an NFL referee screaming in the face of a player or a coach? Remember that hilarious commercial last Super Bowl with the man getting berated on the sideline by an NFL coach while he stared blankly ahead? Give me a break. You’re very job is to keep things orderly, in control and calm. You’re not supposed to get emotionally involved. In fact, neither are the players, but sometimes they do and it’s the ump’s job to keep things in check. How does going toe-to-toe with a player who is so charged up, keep things in control? And then you exercise your ultimate control and send him home.
I’m incited by the incident of David Ortiz, Mr. joviality, getting ejected and most likely suspended for his tirade last night. Never mind taking into account that Nomar Garciaparra who has said maybe 4 words total in his 8-year career to the umps had words for the man behind the plate because of his inconsistent strike zone. Never mind that Pedro, who was on, threw 50 balls and 116 pitches in 6 innings, and did I mention that he was on last night? So the home plate ump was clearly having a bad night and he let his ego get the best of him. That’ll cost any player when it happens to them, but it’s inexcusable when it happens to an ump whose very existence there is antithetical to that.
I’m disgusted. I’m throwing my bats out onto the field right now! Maybe Sheila will suspend me for a few games.
Can an umpire get ejected? Maybe if the other umps on the field “vote him off”? ;-)
Nope. Best you can do is run at them from the stands and watch later on Sportscenter as the ump, the players and security all beat the devil out of you.
This has actually been a trend for several years now and you’re right, it is wrong for umpires to become emotional on the field in a highly visible way. I can understand umpires resenting the fact that players who make 20 times their salary often feel free to yell at them and insult them, but becoming emotional is not the way to handle it. I frequently seen umpires appear to pick fights with players – that should NOT happen. If a player is getting out of line you should calmly warn him once, and if he persists you should calmly throw him out of the game. There’s absolutely no justification for an umpire getting up in a player’s face and screaming at him. I blame the situation mostly on Bud Selig’s pathetic lack of leadership.