UMP IN ARMS
Angry crews protest ‘abusive players’
MAJOR LEAGUE Baseball umpires wore white wristbands during games Saturday, protesting “abusive player behavior” after Detroit second baseman Ian Kinsler was fined but not suspended for his recent verbal tirade against ump Angel Hernandez.
The World Umpires Association announced the action, saying the union strongly objected to the response by the commissioner’s office. Kinsler said this week that Hernandez was a bad umpire and “just needs to go away.”
“The Office of the Commissioner’s lenient treatment to abusive player behavior sends the wrong message to players and managers. It’s open season on umpires, and that’s bad for the game,” the WUA said.
“Enough is enough. Umpires will wear the wristbands until our concerns are taken seriously,” the union said.
MLB said it had no comment on the union’s statement.
Crew chiefs Joe West, Gerry Davis and Bill Miller wore the wristbands in the first games of the day. Hernandez wore one for the Arizona-Twins game.
Miller worked at second base during the Dodgers-Tigers game at Comerica Park, right near Kinsler.
“He’s not the focus of the situation. That’s just part of the puzzle,” Miller said. “We’ve have had several instances where umpires have been called out or challenged. Ejections seem to be up, and we just feel like we need to band together and let people know that we are human beings.”
Most every full-time MLB umpire wore a wristband. Triple-A call-up umps didn’t in the early games.
“That’s certainly their right to do that. I think the country’s in a mood to protest right now. That’s pretty clear,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said before the Brewers played at Colorado.
“The umpires do get the brunt of it sometimes. But I also think they’re kind of trained to understand that,” he said.
West, the president of the umpires’ union, declined comment after working home plate at Wrigley Field. In the fourth inning, West called strike three on Chicago’s Jon Jay — Jay yelled in frustration as he walked away from the plate.
CUBS 4, BLUE JAYS 3: Rookie Ian Happ hit his 18th home run, Jose Quintana pitched six effective innings and Chicago beat Toronto at Wrigley to keep up their success against AL opponents.
MARINERS 7, RAYS 6: Mitch Haniger hit a grand slam, Nelson Cruz added his 31st home run and visiting Seattle rolled to its fourth straight win.
DARVISH ON 10-DAY DL: Yu Darvish has been placed on the 10-day disabled list after just three starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team said Saturday that Darvish has lower back tightness, which he first noticed after a recent start in Arizona and mentioned again after making his Dodger Stadium debut last Wednesday. After the Darvish news broke, the Dodgers beat the Tigers 3-0. Adrian Gonzalez’s seventh-inning single broke a scoreless tie. Dodgers right fielder Cody Bellinger left the game in the seventh inning after rolling his right ankle. Ex-Met Curtis Granderson made his Dodger debut and was 0-for-4 with a run scored. He plated the first run of the game after reaching on an error. PADRES 3, NATS 1: Yangervis Solarte hit a two-run home run off Stephen Strasburg in the first inning of the right-hander’s first start in almost a month and host San Diego beat Washington. ASTROS 3, ATHLETICS 0: Collin McHugh threw six innings, Marwin Gonzalez hit a two-run single and host Houston beat Oakland. ANGELS 5, ORIOLES 1: Mike Trout and Luis Valbuena each hit two home runs off Kevin Gausman, and the visiting Angels won for the eighth time in 10 games. —AP