Jacoby did not attack umpire, Encarnacion says

Jays’ hitting coach appealing 14-game ban

TORON TO • Edwin Encarnacion says he was there in the Fenway Park tunnel when the fracas erupted, and saw everything: the loud, obscenity-laced, nose-to-nose exchange between hitting coach Brook Jacoby and umpire Doug Eddings.

But Encarnacion, the Blue Jays’ slugger, says Jacoby did not physically attack Eddings, as alleged by Major League Baseball to justify its 14-game suspension of Jacoby.

“I saw it, but I didn’t see anything that they say,” Encarnacion said in an interview. “They’re saying Brook got the umpire against the wall and put his hand on his neck. I didn’t see that.”

The incident took place after the Jays’ 4-1 loss to Boston last Wednesday night, capping a series in which Toronto batters frequently disagreed with the umpires’ strike zones.

Multiple sources supported Encarnacion’s account, essentially confirming that a shouting match and contact — probably incidental — occurred between Jacoby and Eddings in the narrow, crowded tunnel leading from the visitors’ dugout that both players and umpires use to reach their respective locker rooms.

But although it has released no details of the incident, MLB has a report from the umpiring crew, and from a security official who was present, asserting that Jacoby instigated physical contact.

Sources said Eddings was on the stairs at the end of the tunnel when Jacoby shouted at him. Eddings turned, came back aggressively and got in Jacoby’s face.

“The umpire tried to come in front of his face, almost kissing him,” Encarnacion said.

Jacoby and Eddings bumped each other, although sources say the contact was incidental, given the crowded conditions, with players, coaches, umpires and security personnel milling in a long tunnel barely wide enough for two people to stand side by side.

As Jacoby and Eddings yelled at each other at close range, Jays bench coach DeMarlo Hale thrust his arms between them and separated them. At that point, packets of scouting reports and other papers carried by Hale and Jacoby burst into the air and fluttered to the floor as the clash de-escalated.

Before handing down the suspension, MLB reviewed incident reports from the umpiring crew and from a Resident Security Agent (RSA), a security official who works for MLB. They also spoke to Jays officials. The Jays are appealing the suspension.

RSAs are active members of local police forces, hired by MLB to report after each game on a wide variety of security issues including ejections of players and fans. One of their primary responsibilities is accommodate the needs of umpires and to make sure they get off the field safely at the end of games.

The exit conditions at Fenway are far from ideal. Both the visiting team and the umpires use the same tunnel to reach their respective locker rooms. Normally, the umpires enter the tunnel first and head for the door at the top of the stairs ahead of the players, with security officers ahead of and behind them.

But sources say it was not uncommon for players, coaches and umpires to walk through the tunnel together, and that’s what happened last Wednesday after plate umpire Adrian Johnson called Russell Martin out on strikes to end the game.

Sources say Johnson was the first umpire up the stairs, with Eddings and Adam Hamari coming later and crew chief Bill Miller hanging back to argue with several Jays who were barking at him in the dugout. The result was a tunnel crammed with a quarrelsome mishmash of Blue Jays and the arbiters who had periodically annoyed them over the three-game series.

Several players said they can recall previous arguments in the tunnel after games, but nothing of this magnitude. The next day, MLB issued a directive ordering visiting teams at Fenway to wait until the umpires are completely off the field before leaving the dugout after games.

Jacoby began serving his suspension Monday night. If it is upheld on appeal, he would lose nearly one-ninth of his salary.

An MLB source said he could not recall a similar case, but said MLB would not have issued such a long suspension without reliable witness statements.

It is unclear when MLB off icials will hear the appeal, or the protocol for the appeal process. Unlike players, suspended coaches do not have union support and cannot continue to work during games pending the outcome of their appeal.

Encarnacion said the confrontation was loud and involved a lot of jostling in the tight quarters. MLB asserted Jacoby assaulted Eddings. To that, Encarcacion replied: “Not like the way they say.”