“You're outta here!” Baseball Manager Ejections - MLB Feature
Baseball is a game that is played with a lot of flare and passion. Both teams on the field give it their best to come up on top. The passion and hunger to win can sometimes overcome one’s control and untowardly incidents take place. Such rage is not limited
to the players and can also be shown by managers of the team.
A show of such senselessness can often lead players and managers to being ejected from the game, effectively meaning they are no longer able to participate in that particular game in any capacity. Any one on the ball park including the team staff, front
office personnel and even spectators can be ejected but generally its only players and managers who get the boot.
Manager ejection is a more interesting phenomenon as they are not directly involved in play on the field. Such ejections can sometimes get the crowds cheering as well. Ejections can be caused due to various reasons.
They can be as simple as a manager questioning a strike or ball call by an umpire or something more serious like an overly heated argument by the manager with an umpire. A manger is also guaranteed to get an ejection if the pitcher balls a bean ball intentionally
or on the request of the manager.
Some followers of the game see it as one of the more interesting aspects of the game. An umpire makes a call and a manager gets out challenging it. Often both are adamant on each being right. Soon the exchange becomes a heated argument and the umpire gives
his call, ejecting the manager.
During the 2012 season alone, 178 managers were ejected. There have been some managers in the Major League who have been more prone to getting ejected due to their constant questioning and arguments with the umpires.
Leading the group is none other than the 71-year-old Bobby Cox. He is the fourth most successful manager in the history of MLB with 2185 wins. The manager has been ejected a staggering 158 times during the career, including 34 times since 2004, the most
for any manager during this period. He is the only player or manager to be twice ejected from a World Series game, in 1992 and then in 1996. Though, it is believed that a lot of his ejections took place to actually protect a player from getting thrown out
of the game.
A close second in the column is John McGraw. John holds the top spot until Bobby overtook him. He was ejected 132 times, though at least 14 of them came as a player. He too was a very successful manager and won 2763 Major League games. The Hall of Famer
is only second to the all time great manager Connie Mack in wins.
In recent managers, Tony La Russa has been ejected 78 times. One of only three managers to have over 2500 wins, La Russa showed some flare in his 33-year managerial career in the Major League. Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels has been ejected 17 times
since 2004. He is one of the most ejected managers during this period. He is tied with White Sox’s manager Ozzie Guillen who has his own firebrand manager ship and does not mind letting the players or the umpires know that he did not like something. Ron Gardenhire
also has had is fair share with 32 ejections in the last nine seasons.
We can certainly conclude that although ejections are not entirely desirable, they add a flavour to the game and make it more fun to watch.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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