A very clear message is being sent be MLB umpires this year: look at us the wrong way and you’re gone. The latest proof of this troubling trend is Ivan Rodriguez’ ejection/suspension for correctly questioning an interference call that homeplate umpire Mike Winters failed to make when batter Yuniesky Betancourt impeded Rodriguez’ effort to throw out Adrian Beltre stealing second base. Winters then said to the protesting Rodriguez: “You never touched him”. The message: break your hand on his batter’s helmut, then you’ll get the call. Davis wells had similar experience when he asked to speak to homeplate umpire EdHickox about his strike zone. Hickox reacted very quickly, too quickly, and ejected Wells. The ejection sent Wells into a tirade that earned him a 7 game suspension from the league. This is an alarming trend that fans should contemplate. The game is about the players and the fans, not the umpires. The larger the role in a game the umpiring crew takes, the poorer the job of officiating they are doing. Since when is goading and baiting major league players into an argument and then ejecting them part of the game? This a bad sign and MLB has to do something about its gang of increasingly overreaching game umpires.
