Bryce Harper ejection

[Manny A]

Sorry for being late to this party, but I was away from computers during an extended Labor Day weekend.

First and foremost, I don't care for any form of frustration taken out on equipment like this. It bugs me when I see even the youngest of kids who hammer the ground with their bat as they head back to the dugout following a swinging strike out. I also see things like helmets and bats being thrown into equipment areas, gloves being slammed against benches, etc.

For those who say it's no big deal when it happens inside the dugout, I feel that's a cop-out. It's unsporting whether it happens on the field the moment a player fails, or it happens a minute later inside the "protection" of the dugout. If you see it happen, what difference does it make where it happens?

That said, there is an accepted tolerance by umpires to let things go depending upon:
- the location of the act
- the age of the player
- the game situation
- the direct cause of the act (frustration at himself/herself vs. obvious disagreement with an umpire's call)
- any "collateral damage" inflicted, especially if it is inflicted on or near the umpire
If an umpire deviates from that acceptance, he/she is viewed as either too lenient or too over-officious.

Which brings me to this particular play. In my opinion, Harper should have been tossed. But then, many MLB players should have been tossed in games past for slamming their equipment when they strike out, when they hit into a DP, when they fail to catch a fly ball, etc. But routinely they don't because MLB umpires look the other way. And I feel CB should have looked the other way on this one.

A few weeks ago, we discussed a situation where an Oriole player was tossed after he slammed his first baseman's mitt on the ground when the PU overruled U1's call of Out at first. That one was pretty obvious that he was acting out on the PU's reversal.

What was Harper acting out on here? He never looked at CB, never yelled in disgust "NO!" or "THAT'S BULL SPIT!" or gave any other indication that he disagreed with the umpire's call. If Harper's act really warranted the ejection, then there are plenty of other acts I've seen that should similarly warrant the same result...and they rarely do.

Speaking of overreacting Nats, I recall a couple of years ago when Nyjer Morgan was on the team, and he missed a fly ball against the wall. Instead of going after the loose ball and throwing it back to the infield, he reared back and slammed his glove on the ground. Did that deserve an ejection? For those who argue, "Of course not," then why should Harper's act deserve one? To me, he was just as frustrated for grounding into a DP late in a game where his team was losing as Nyjer was when he muffed the catch.

Again, I prefer that all that crap results in ejections, regardless where it happens or why. It's unsporting conduct, plain and simple. But as long as we continue to ignore it under certain accepted standards, then we deserve criticism when we violate those standards, as I believe happened here.