You're outta here

February 28, 2018 10:01 AM

Meg Rowley at Fangraphs reviewed all the baseball ejections of 2017, and breaks them down for us. (My favorite is the Uncle Frank Face in post I.)
posted by LobsterMitten (22 comments total)

One of my favorite memories of watching the Orioles when I was a kid was what seemed the once a week occasion of Earl Weaver getting himself ejected. He was so good at it! Like an angry bantam rooster, kicking dirt and making noise.
posted by tavella at 10:09 AM on February 28, 2018 [4 favorites]

Oh these are very good. '[I]f video did exist, it would likely feature three guys standing around, muttering variations of “What?” and “Wait, me?” and “Huh?” for several minutes before Bill Haselman gets angry and yells, all while the crowd wondered if they still liked baseball or if someone on the field was being arrested.'

& yeah, no one did Ejection Theatre like Earl Weaver. Just. so. good.
posted by PandaMomentum at 10:26 AM on February 28, 2018 [2 favorites]

I love watching these. Especially the ones where the umpires kind of wait patiently for a little while to see if the manager or player is going to wind themselves down. Hallion ejects Renteria is a great example of this. You can just see the wheels turning, and then when it seems to escalate, he lets out an "OKAY!" That's enough, buddy. You're gone.

Alonso Marquez' "What?" is good too. He's got a good Joe Pesci-esque "Do we have a problem here?" thing going on.
posted by zarq at 10:30 AM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

But do any of them top walking away with a base?
posted by Chrysostom at 10:53 AM on February 28, 2018 [4 favorites]

Instant replay has really cut down on the arguing; now, they can just have them look at it again. So most arguments now are balls and strikes, which would’ve gotten you ejected before, too. Fortunately we have heroes like Adrian Beltre to innovate new reasons to get ejected.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 11:02 AM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

But do any of them top walking away with a base?

Meet Joe Mikulik, now manager of the AA Frisco RoughRiders. (Affiliate of the Texas Rangers).

Joe has some anger management issues. And he once tossed second base into the outfield.

WashPost: Joe Mikulik has now hit for the manager freakout cycle. "Joe Mikulik, the Laurence Olivier of minor league freakouts, is back with another bravura performance." There's a video of him taking off his shoes and shirt in that article, laying them on home plate and waving his arms "safe" over them. In 2015, he also took off his shoes after getting ejected, punted one and spiked another.
posted by zarq at 11:21 AM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

Did somebody say Earl Weaver?
posted by Cash4Lead at 11:24 AM on February 28, 2018 [4 favorites]

I don't understand the moving-the-on-deck-circle one. What's going on there?
posted by eugenen at 11:24 AM on February 28, 2018

I don't understand the moving-the-on-deck-circle one. What's going on there?

He's afraid of getting hit by a foul.

He says he wasn't trying to be funny, but that shot of him moving the circle remains freakin' hilarious.
posted by zarq at 11:26 AM on February 28, 2018

Has an ump ever been ejected from a game? It would be a great rule if each team were given the right to eject an ump, but just once per season. You'd have to pick your moment carefully. Someone like Vic Carapazza might get tossed 30 times.
posted by Crane Shot at 11:29 AM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA:

When [A.J.] Pierzynski was with the Red Sox in 2014, he asked umpire Quinn Wolcott for a new ball after a walk despite none of the previous pitches hitting the ground.

That led to the following exchange:

Pierzynski: "Excuse me, can I have a new ball?"
Wolcott: "For what?"
Pierzynski: "One you can see."

Ejected.

posted by zarq at 11:33 AM on February 28, 2018 [10 favorites]

Throwing Stuff, God Bless America Edition

Wait, is this a thing? Do they play both “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America” at ball games, and is it necessary to stop, stand, face the flag, remove one’s hat, and cover one’s heart for both? ‘Cause, like, you know only one of those is the national anthem, right? The other one’s just an Irving Berlin “let’s all forget about that borderline-satanic passifist anthem I wrote” face-saving patriotic jingo-jingle. Might as well stand for “Puttin’ On the Ritz.”
posted by Sys Rq at 11:34 AM on February 28, 2018

Since 9/11, many ballparks play "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch, after Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

For years now, The Mets have played "Dominick the Donkey" during the stretch as well.
posted by zarq at 11:40 AM on February 28, 2018

Yeah, as bad as it is when they play that horrible song at the ballpark (seems like all the Sunday games and then some), it's even worse when people think they are supposed to stand for it.

In the "I Will Desecrate Your Temple" one I can help but wonder how much of the various players' sputum he touched with his bare hands.
posted by exogenous at 1:20 PM on February 28, 2018

That link is fantastic, and I don't even like baseball that much. My wife came over to see what had me laughing so hard and I showed her the Great Uncle Frank section.
posted by NoRelationToLea at 1:28 PM on February 28, 2018

List all-time most ejected managers. (Top 15; 8 of them are in Hall of Fame.)

"I will desecrate your temple" is amazing.
posted by bukvich at 1:33 PM on February 28, 2018 [2 favorites]

Though note that Weaver managed many fewer games than McGraw and Cox, so he far outpaces McGraw and just edges Cox on the key "how frequently will you be entertained by them being ejected" statistic. Though dark horse Paul Richards beats them all.
posted by tavella at 2:04 PM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

Wait, is this a thing? Do they play both “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America” at ball games, and is it necessary to stop, stand, face the flag, remove one’s hat, and cover one’s heart for both?

My local minor league team regularly ruins the 7th inning stretch by playing this song and marching some poor boy scout troop or ancient VFW drum corp around the field with flags.

You never know quite how to react because you want to be respectful of the remaining WWII veterans but in 3 minutes, the mascot is going to be chasing a slot machine around home plate.

It's almost as bad as their habit of playing "wacky" off-beat versions of "Take me out to the ballgame" to which no one can sing along.
posted by madajb at 2:12 PM on February 28, 2018

Wait, is this a thing? Do they play both “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America” at ball games, and is it necessary to stop, stand, face the flag, remove one’s hat, and cover one’s heart for both?

This practice, as with everything wrong with baseball, is entirely the Yankees’ fault.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:18 PM on February 28, 2018 [5 favorites]

Crane Shot: "Has an ump ever been ejected from a game?"

Oh, sure.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:28 PM on February 28, 2018 [2 favorites]

I always thought Beltre stood where he did mainly to see what the pitcher was throwing from as close to the batter's position as possible.
posted by Carillon at 3:26 PM on February 28, 2018

This was immensely enjoyable.
posted by mixedmetaphors at 5:23 PM on February 28, 2018