Upset over a perceived lack of discipline, MLB umps wear armbands.
Punishment for Detroit’s Kinsler deemed too light
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 World Umpires Association 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, 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.
West, the president of the umpires’ union, declined comment after working home plate at Wrigley Field in the Cubs’ 4-3 win over Toronto. In the fourth inning, West called strike three on Chicago’s Jon Jay — Jay yelled in frustration as he walked away from the plate.
West is the most senior umpire in the majors. Earlier this month, he was suspended three games by MLB for comments he made in a newspaper story about Texas star Adrian Beltre being the biggest complainer in the game. West said he was joking, and Beltre said he knew the umpire was kidding.
On Thursday, at the owners’ meeting in Chicago, Commissioner Rob Manfred drew a distinction on remarks by players and umpires.
“It is not unusual after a very competitive event for a player to say something that we don’t think is helpful over the long term. We have always dealt with those by player discipline, fines. That’s the ordinary course,” Manfred said.
“I see the umpire thing differently. Umpires have to be beyond reproach on the topic of impartiality. That’s why there are really specific rules in the umpire basic agreement about public comment,” he said.
On Monday, Kinsler was ejected by Hernandez in Texas after being called out on strikes. The next day, Kinsler sharply criticized Hernandez, saying the umpire was “messing” with games “blatantly.”
“No, I’m surprised at how bad an umpire he is. … I don’t know how, for as many years he’s been in the league, that he can be that bad. He needs to re-evaluate his career choice, he really does. Bottom line,” Kinsler said.
Kinsler and Hernandez shook hands on the field before the Tigers-Rangers game on Wednesday. Kinsler said Friday that he’d be fined, without disclosing the amount.
Last month, Hernandez sued MLB alleging race discrimination. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, the 55-year-old Hernandez, who was born in Cuba and lives in Florida, cited as evidence of alleged discrimination his lack of World Series assignments in the past decade. Hernandez worked the World Series in 2002 and 2005 but hasn’t done it not since.
Texas manager Jeff Banister has been ejected five times this season.
“I’ve said it enough, how I feel about the umpires we have in Major League Baseball. I think they’re the best,” he said. “I also believe that this game is an emotional game. It’s not always clean.”