Russell Martin’s frustrations
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The complex subtleties of Russell Martin’s job can be enough to get the better of him some nights, especially during games when frustration rises to unhealthy levels.
At the top of the list for the Blue Jays catcher, of course, is managing his pitchers and calling a game that will keep opposing batters guessing. Then there are his own responsibilities at the plate, especially on a team that has too often been starved for offence this season.
But when the umpires forget where the strike zone is and go devoid of consistency as they did for the previous two games against the Angels in Anaheim, well things get a little more complicated.
Like all of the Jays, Martin was particularly fired up with the work of home plate ump Toby Basner in Monday’s 2-1 loss to the Angels that resulted in that four-game series ending in a 2-2 split.
To be generous, Basner’s strike zone was a moving target and a called third strike on Martin that was well outside caused Jays manager John Gibbons to lose his you know what and get ejected for a second consecutive night.
Martin does his best to reason with umps when things get “confusing ” but admits it can be a delicate piece of business. No official in any sport appreciates getting shown up, but some have a higher tolerance.
“I try to keep my cool, I try to talk to them,” Martin said of the ongoing relationship with the roving bands of umpiring crews. “Some are harder to talk to than others. I don’t think anyone really enjoys being told they made a mistake and I still haven’t learned how to let an umpire know that he’s made a mistake without him getting ticked off.
“I just try to be honest with them. I’m not really there to console their feelings. They want to get the job right at the end of the day too. Sometimes they don’t want to hear it and those are the ones that are hard to work with.”
Like players, umpires do not have a universal disposition. Some get cranky easier, some have a more liberal tolerance for back talk. So once again, part of Martin’s task is to figure out the personalities he’s dealing with before risking pissing them off.
“The ones that are human understand that they do make mistakes and try to make an adjustment, just like players do when they are playing the game,” Martin said. “The game is a game of adjustments and it’s the same thing for umpires.
“It’s frustrating when they don’t want to believe (what you’re saying. The veteran guys are often easier. The young guys tend to get a little tight and let things bother them and let situations linger a little bit instead of forgetting about it.”
The frustration of such a tough start for the Jays has been further accentuated by the officiating follies. In Monday’s loss, there were multiple incidents of debatable discretion, but what wound up Martin the most was the perceived inconsistencies of Basner’s interpretation of balls and strikes.
And given that he has a unique view from both offence and defence, the issues are magnified through Martin’s eyes.
“When my pitcher is throwing a pitch over the plate that’s getting called a ball and I get a pitch that’s a ball and called a strike, that’s frustrating,” Martin said. “Those things just keep adding up.
“I let (Basner) know how much I disagreed. It’s just frustrating when you’re battling your butt out there to help your team win and you feel like you get cheated a bit.”
To top off a miserable night and an opportunity lost for a first series win, Devon Travis was dinged for batter interference, denying Chris Coghlan a stolen base as the Jays scrambled to tie it up.
It didn’t help that the Jays have a history with Basner, who last season tossed third baseman Josh Donaldson for some phantom comments that were actually directed at the opposition dugout.
“I know the umpire is out there trying his best, but like Donaldson said last year, it’s not the ‘try’ league,” Martin said. “You expect the umpires to get the calls right.”