Umpiring Politics

[Kevin Finnerty]

I took a chance ejecting a batter in a Men's 25-U Nationals game while my assignor was on the bases. I would have warned the guy for popping off about a strike call, but he dropped an F-bomb and did it loudly. So I ran him, and my assignor backed me 100 percent on the field and afterward at report time.

But I never gave his being there a second thought when I ran the guy. He knows I have a long leash because I have a short list of ejections, and they all involve loud unsportsmanlike behavior or malicious contact. This might have been one of my softer ones. Especially with the older guys.

But a catcher says something like what he said about you, Johnny ?!? ... He goes as fast as my mask can come off. Any of that personal bias crap from a teenage jerk-off is absolutely intolerable.