I felt like some of the pitches that I was not getting were strikes, and then I threw one that I felt like was a ball [to Sweeney] and then he called it a strike. I'm more or less just trying to get Salty out there and say, "Come talk to me, let's figure out this zone so I know how to go about this." I had no idea what his zone was. I guess [Randazzo] may have jumped to the conclusion that I was talking to him. I felt he threw his arms up in the air for no reason. Then everything unfolded the way it did. ...Saltalamacchia agreed:
When he threw up his arms and started barking at me, I said, "Tony, I'm not even talking to you, I'm talking to my catcher." I guess he felt like I may have been coming back at him or I may have been showing him up.
[Papelbon] was talking to me and then [Randazzo] kind of turned around and walked away, and then I don't know what happened after that. He just kind of jumped out behind me and started talking to Pap. ... I don't think there was any reason for [the ejection]. Pap had already turned around and walked the other way. I think [the ump] should have just left it at that and moved on.Crew Chief Brian Gorman refused to comment.
Peter Abraham of the Globe called that a "gutless" response and said that in unusual circumstances, MLB should make sure umpires are "made available to a pool reporter. If players, managers, coaches and team executives and even commissioner Bud Selig can answer questions and be accountable for their decisions, why can't umpires?"
In June 2006, Randazzo walked 40 feet up the first base line and chest-bumped (and ejected) both Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle and reliever Ray King. Afterwards, crew chief Joe West said, "I'm not taking questions. We have a plane to catch." (As if giving a 30-second comment would cause them to miss their flight.) King said Randazzo "was totally out of line. ... He gets right up in your face hoping I'd agitate him."
If players, managers, coaches and team executives and even commissioner Bud Selig can answer questions and be accountable for their decisions, why can't umpires?"
ReplyDeleteBecause some umpires believe they are above accountability? There's an analogy to certain police officers here - those who enforce the law believe the law does not apply to them.
I agree with Abraham, it's a gutless response, and it shouldn't be available.
Randazzo is beyond a bad joke as an umpire.
ReplyDeletePeter Gammons wrote this on Twitter during the 9th inning:
"Does MLB have anyone administering umpires? Dreadful, with no interest in the sport's integrity."
If players, managers, coaches and team executives and even commissioner Bud Selig can answer questions and be accountable for their decisions, why can't umpires?
ReplyDeleteThis, this, a thousand times this. We all have our buttons, and this is one of mine. Why does MLB allow this? The coaches *have* to do those mid-game interviews, but MLB can't require the umpires to answer questions about the way the game was handled (or mishandled)? And don't give me any nonsense about them staying in the background and not having the focus on them. Ha...that's a laugh.
I'm not in favor of robot umpires (not just yet) but Saturday's events are another black eye for the men in blue. Why can't pitchers call time and ask where the strike zone is?
ReplyDeleteAbraham pretty much sums up my argument.
From that same ESPN story quoting King:
ReplyDelete"Joe West made a comment like, 'Clint, it's your job to keep your players in line,' [and] I told Joe West, 'You're the crew chief. Your job is to keep your crew in line,'" King recounted.