Manager tirades at umpires have largely become a thing of the past thanks to instant replay taking away most of controversy in many decisions in baseball… except balls and strikes. Managers can still get their money’s worth arguing balls and strikes with the man behind the plate, though those tirades often end in vain, if not with a little entertainment for the fans watching.
But MLB, in their pursuit to kill everything that’s fun about baseball, apparently isn’t too big a fan of managers arguing balls and strikes with their umpires. In a memo obtained by the AP, they say arguing with umps is, “highly inappropriate conduct [that is] detrimental to the game and must stop immediately.”
The memo further explains that while, “disagreements over ball and strike calls are natural, the prevalence of manager ejections simply cannot continue” because it ruins the integrity of the umpires on the field, who apparently after having an argument cannot be objective anymore.
Even though advanced technology allows managers and umpires to have a better idea of the strike zone than ever, the memo encourages managers not to use the new tech in their arguments that they shouldn’t be having anyway.
“[It’s] an express violation of the Replay Regulations, which state that on-field personnel in the dugout may not discuss any issue with individuals in their video review room using the dugout phone other than whether to challenge a play subject to video replay review.”
Reds manager Bryan Price either didn’t get the memo or sent it to his spam folder because he was ejected Saturday arguing balls and strikes as his Reds lost 9-1 to Milwaukee. But for any manager or coach like Price who argues balls and strikes from now on, there will be discipline beyond being tossed, such as a fine.
I’m pretty sure most managers won’t care that much about a petty fine.
