Umpire throws Stro, almost steals show
There is no doubt that major-league umpires can serve as a negative influence on the game of baseball with bad judgment and fits of anger. There are times to blame players for their ejections. and time to blame umpires.
The emotional Marcus Stroman was ejected in the fifth inning of the Jays’ 8-4 comeback win over Oakland on Thursday, and this one was on home-plate umpire Will Little.
Nobody is paying to see the umpire call balls and strikes. I remember the Expos’ first homestand of the 1992 season, when an April crowd came to see Dennis Martinez, who had pitched a perfect game in Los Angeles the summer before. Houston’s Craig Biggio led off the game with an infield single and stole second. On the second pitch to Steve Finley, Martinez stared in at umpire Larry Vanover, who removed his mask, stepped out in front of the plate and ejected Martinez. Vanover wasn’t going to be shown up by the pitcher.
There was a little more involved at the Rogers Centre on Thursday, but the sentiment about letting the players be the show still should rule. But after manager John Gibbons sacrificed himself to save his pitcher by arguing on behalf of Stroman, Little decided he was the show and pulled off his mask, baiting Stroman, who said something and was ejected. Then it was catcher Russ Martin.
“Stroman made a sound, I’m not exactly sure what was said or not,” Martin said after the game. “Then he probably whispered something . . . probably thought it was there, thought it was a good pitch. I turned around and said ‘You didn’t have to throw him out right there.’ I probably threw an F-bomb in there, just one, not multiple. But he took his mask off and looked like he was ready to do something.”
The tension started building in the first inning. With runners on first and second, Stroman and Martin thought they had Khris Davis struck out on a 1-2 pitch, but Little called ball two. Stroman posed at the end of his delivery, as he often does in all his glorious flamboyance, and stared in. Martin, without turning his head, chirped Little respectfully. Davis ended up walking to load the bases.
Thus began the three-run first that put the Jays in a hole. Ryon Healy chopped a slow grounder to shortstop for the first run and Maxwell sliced a single to centre field to drive in two more.
Then it became the Jays’ batters questioning Little’s strike zone as hitter after hitter turned quizzically to glance back as left-hander Shaun Manaea mowed 10 down in order.
“It’s frustrating when the umpire’s kind of tight back there,” Martin shrugged. “It’s part of the game. You try to get through it. But I think frustration from the umpire, from myself, from Stro, just kind of led up to whatever happened.” Stroman lasted 42⁄ innings,
3 throwing 100 pitches that included just 48 strikes, uncharacteristic for the right-hander. Much of that could be blamed on the judgment of the home plate umpire. Stroman was not willing to talk about what he thought of Little’s game, but he was unapologetic about the emotion that he takes with him to the mound.
“I’m an emotional guy,” Stroman said. “I’m going to continue to be myself regardless of who doesn’t like it, who likes it. I’m always going to be myself, regardless. I’m emotional, that’s how I pitch. That’s what I pride myself on. That’s what allows me to be my best out there and that’s how it’s going to continue to be, day in and day out. So, if you don’t like it, it’s OK. “When you come up (to the majors) sometimes, it’s hard to be yourself, being a young guy. Now I feel like I’m settled in. I can completely be myself. There’s no reason to hold back. None of it is ill-natured by any means. It’s things that I need to do, talk to myself to get myself in the moment, to get myself up for a particular pitch. I’m not going to change going forward. Nobody can sway that.”
Stroman doesn’t believe anybody should worry about how he reacts. He has a chip on his shoulder and that emotion and will to succeed is what fuels him. But when he was ejected, there was little doubt that if the other umpires, Martin, and especially interim manager DeMarlo Hale had not stepped in, Stroman would have made significant physical contact with Little. The results for the talented, fiery 26-year-old could have been much worse.
Stroman doesn’t need to reel in those emotions, but he needs to better channel them. He is the Stro Show and fans love it and he does fuel himself. Little was horrible Thursday afternoon, but the consequences could have been worse for Stroman.
“Any time an umpire kind of just steps towards you and takes his mask off, it’s never a good sign,” said Martin, the voice of reason. “It’s like he was asking for, or instigating, almost. I didn’t feel like at that moment it was the proper call. It didn’t feel like it was necessary. There wasn’t any drama at that moment. He kind of created the drama there. It’s definitely frustrating when the umpires get in the way.
“The fans got into it and kind of added fuel to the fire, but that’s the nature of the game. That’s why we like having human umpires back there. It would be a little bit different if there was just an electronic strike zone.”