May 7, 2011

Francona: West "Always Wants To Be In Everybody's Business"

Terry Francona, on Joe West physically preventing him from arguing with home plate umpire Angel Hernandez:
He was grabbing me. I didn't appreciate that, thought it was wrong — I thought he was out of line. ... Joe, as we all know, always wants to be in everybody's business. That was me and Angel, Joe didn't have anything to do with it. ...

I actually never did get an explanation. I got thrown out because I came out. Since I was already thrown out I thought I could get an explanation. But Joe wouldn't let me.
So umpires are allowed to grab managers and actually push them away, but managers or players are fined if they brush up against an umpire? If so, that imbalance of respect may be one reason why many umps are emboldened to strut around the diamond acting like they are the main attraction at the game.

I also noticed that when West came over to prevent Francona from arguing with Hernandez, he positioned himself in such a way that Tito's momentum (as he was walking) brought him into contact with West. It seemed deliberate to me, and needlessly provocative.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

why the hell do they put the 2 worst umps in the same crew??

allan said...

CB Bucknor: "Don't forget about me!"

allan said...

Q: Was it one of the called strikes that got you mad?

Bill Hall: One of? He missed the first two. Weren’t strikes. I didn’t really say anything to him, and once I got out of the box, he was yelling at me, cussing me out, telling me to get the (expletive) in the box. ...

After I swung and missed at the third one, I cussed myself out. I didn’t look towards him. I said ‘dammit’ going back to the dugout, and he threw me out of the game. It was just ridiculous. ...

It’s amazing how umpires can get away with so much stuff and nothing happens to them. It’s all about them trying to get something on ESPN punching someone out ...