Yadier Molina was suspended. Yadier Molina was suspended for five games. He bumped an umpire. He bumped Rob Drake. He bumped him several times. In the midst of his tirade, saliva sprung from his mouth. The saliva peppered Rob Drake’s face. Yadier Molina, being a thoughtful chest bumper, apologized for the spray. He did not intentionally spit. The spit was an afterthought. The spit was not something he meant to do. The spit, the saliva, was a result of anger and bad reactionary habits. He decided not to appeal. He felt the rulling was fair. The reason for his quick cease and desist was probably helped a little by the fact that his body needed a break.
Just a few hours later, Molina got into a bit of a scuffle with Gerald Laird in the lobby of the hotel the team was staying in at the time. Albert Pujols was said to have mediated the heated discussion, which might be the most interesting thing about the exchange. That said, Yadier Molina’s actions probably clouded the fact that there seems (on the surface, at least) to be a rise in the recent rash of incidents between the umpire and the player.
It is a strange issue, and one that, pride aside, ought be resolved with the implimentation of the instant replay. Yadier Molina’s case at the plate was not extreme. Yadier Molina acted like a sociopath. Yadier Molina’s actions are the type of thing that will usually set progress on a particular issue back a few years. At the end of the day, the question isn’t really about the call and the incident. The question is about what could have been done to prevent the missed call and the incident from happening in the first place.
Frank Coolley and Joe Torre weighed in recently on the gaffe by Jerry Meals that ended the 19-inning marathon between the Pirates and the Braves:
Pirates president Frank Coonelly said the organization was “extremely disappointed” with the way the game ended, arguing both teams deserved better.
“While we cannot begin to understand how umpire Jerry Meals did not see the tag made by Michael McKenry three feet in front of home plate, we do not question the integrity of Mr. Meals,” Coonelly said. “Instead, we know that Mr. Meals’ intention was to get the call right. Jerry Meals has been umpiring Major League games for 14 years and has always done so with integrity and professionalism. He got this one wrong.”
Though Torre lamented the error, he also said mistakes are part of the game.
“Most in the game recognize that the human element always will be part of baseball and instant replay can never replace all judgment calls by umpires,” Torre said.
I guess, in the end, it really comes down to judgement. Judgement is always going to exist at the heart of the percieved blown call. All in all, professional baseball umpires probably do a pretty decent job. I know for a fact they get more calls right than I ever would, but they aren’t perfect. There is tension in the ranks. The robots are coming to town. I imagine instant replay has umpires feeling a tad insecure. I don’t blame them. I would feel insecure too. There will still be judgements to be made. Instant replay will need to be expanded. It is inevitable. Maybe umpires just need to feel wanted, maybe they just need to feel needed. Spittle doesn’t help. Neither does the chest bump. Things will change, though. They always do.
Jesse Gloyd usually can be found writing essays about baseball (among other things) at buckshotboogaloo.com (which is where most of these posts live). Follow him on Twitter at @jessejamesgloyd. You can also hear him weekly on The Buckshot Boogaloo Podcast.
