Quote:
Originally posted by Rich Fronheiser
Quote:
Originally posted by blueump
If an adult player drew an inside line on me after calling a strike, I would ask for his bat and draw another line on the outside part of the plate (usually about 6 inches outside). Then I would hand the bat back, and tell him, "that's the zone now, so you'd better swing!"
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That's tiresome. Why stoop to his level? Just eject him and maintain dignity and composure.
How could you possibly defend such an action with a supervisor or assignor?
--Rich
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I agree.
I attended Andy Fletcher's (MLB umpire) training camp here in Memphis.
He showed us a video of the time he ejected Benito Santiago (at the time, the catcher for the San Francisco Giants.) Andy was the PU. Santiago had been very unhappy with many of Andy's calls and was starting to express it. He had been chipping away at Andy for some time. A foul ball was hit and Andy tried to hand Santiago a new ball. Santiago ignored him. Andy refused to throw the ball to the pitcher himself, insisting that Santiago throw it. Santiago continued to ignore him. Finally, in aggravation, Andy went out in front of the plate, and threw the ball onto the plate and then promptly ejected Santiago. This game was nationally televised. The announcers were highly critical of Andy's actions, saying, "Nobody came out here this afternoon to watch Andy Fletcher umpire. They came to watch
Santiago play. Unbelievable." And, in fact, Andy
did get in trouble for his actions. Throwing the ball on the plate was uncalled for. Andy admitted he was wrong to do that.
I think
any theatrics by an umpire are wrong. That would include the "drawing the line in the sand."
David Emerling
Memphis, TN
[Edited by David Emerling on Apr 26th, 2004 at 11:37 AM]