Joe Girardi has always respected umpires, sometimes to a fault.
When Girardi was managing the Florida Marlins in 2006, Jeffrey Loria, the Marlins owner, was heckling an umpire from his seat behind home plate. Loria was not pleased with the arbiter’s interpretation of the strike zone.
Girardi, who has always stood for truth, justice and the American way, took umbrage.
From the dugout, Girardi asked his boss to stop.
After the game, the erstwhile manager spoke to the media.
“The gist of the conversation to Jeffrey was, ‘I preach to my players about not arguing with umpires, and this is not going to help us,’ ” Girardi said.
It is obvious that Girardi is not an advocate of the Billy Martin — Earl Weaver — Ralph Houk school for managers.
After the game, a livid Loria confronted Girardi in the clubhouse. There were rumors that Loria fired Girardi on the spot but then changed his mind.
Immediately after the Marlins season ended in early October, Girardi was fired. The reason given, according to general manager Larry Beinfest was that Girardi “failed to mesh with others in the organization.”
“Joe is not returning because it was not a good fit,” Beinfest said. “I will take some of that blame. I’m in charge, and it’s my job to make sure everything runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible.”
Today, Girardi admitted that it was his fault that the New York Yankees failed to protest the game against the Kansas City Royals when a disputed Billy Butler home run was upheld by instant replay.
Girardi explained that he trusted the umpires to know the rules.
“I assumed the rules were right and that’s my fault.Two umpires told me and I believed them,” Girardi said. “Maybe I don’t need to be so trustworthy anymore.”
Is Joe Girardi living in his own reality? Yes, some umpires are as competent at their job as Girardi is at his, but it is naive at best to trust umpires.
There are revealing anecdote about Joe West, who recently was voted baseball’s second worst umpire behind C.B. Bucknor, as well as about Bucknor.
On July 23, 1991, Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Rob Dibble, not one of the most beloved individuals in baseball history, threw at Doug Dascenzo of the Chicago Cubs. Joe West ejected Dibble on the spot.
Later in the game, West and Andre Dawson were involved in a dispute over one of West’s calls.
Dawson had accidentally bumped West. He was immediately ejected, ultimately suspended for one game and fined $1,000. Dawson wrote a check to the league office to pay the fine
In the space on the check reserved for a memo, Dawson wrote “donation to the blind.”
About one year ago, one American League player gave his take on Bucknor . ‘A terrible umpire. And he’s not very nice out there when he’s making bad calls, either.”
Joe Girardi has been in baseball a long time. He played under Don Zimmer when he was the Cubs catcher and Zim was their manager. One would think that Girardi had learned a few things about umpires from him.
The umpires are instructed by MLB to carry a rule book with them. They make mistakes and are encouraged to correct mistakes with respect to the rules.
They have been told that it’s preferable to hold up a game for a few minutes in order to get things right rather than creating conditions for a game to be protested.
Joe Girardi can’t afford to continue to put his faith in umpires.
Curry, J. (2006, Nov 16). Baseball. New York Times (1923-Current File), pp. D2. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/93083645?accountid=46260