Sportsfrog.com

I understand the “why” when it comes to a major league baseball umpire forcing himself into the storyline of the game, I just don’t agree with the usual means of accomplishing the “how”. Does making oneself look like a power-drunk autocrat in front of a live and television audience of 100,000+ really satisfy any egotistical urges? Perhaps it’s no more of an issue now than it has been in the past, but there are several current umpires I count on to act blatantly unprofessional on almost a weekly basis. As of yesterday afternoon, my immediate mental list would have been C.B. Buckner, Phil Cuzzi and Angel Hernandez. They are the big three of awfulness; the guys I’m most disappointed to find out will be working a Yankees series because I know there’s a better than normal chance that one of the games will be overshadowed. All three seem to go out of their way to antagonize players and managers, Hernandez in an especially condescending manner, in an effort to see how big of an on-field argument they can instigate. After last night, my list is one name longer. Add: Brian Runge.

From ESPN.com:

“Jerry Manuel was ejected from his second home game as New York Mets manager, upset with how plate umpire Brian Runge handled a disagreement with center fielder Carlos Beltran …

After the second strike, Beltran started talking to Runge, who took off his mask and continued the dialogue before he brushed dirt off home plate. Manuel then came out and started arguing …

Runge appeared to bump into Manuel before throwing him out of the game …

Beltran continued the conversation and Runge quickly threw him out the game. An incensed Beltran then got in Runge’s face and had to be held back before Manuel came out to escort his center fielder to the dugout.”

If MLB has any sense of justice, every one of you will have seen the replay of this incident by week’s end because Runge’s suspension will become a major sports news story. The narrative above is tame; Runge went out of his way to provoke Beltran (a player who, judging on TV exposure alone, has always appeared to be incredibly laid back). He walked past Beltran to get to the front of home plate and then stood there waiting for Beltran to continue talking. By the time it became apparent that Beltran wasn’t taking the bait, with him even nodding at Runge to move it along, Manuel was out of the dugout to protect his player. Runge’s bumping of Manuel, which happened before Met tempers had been completely lost, should not be the basis for his suspension, it should simply add to a suspension that was already warranted.

In a perfect baseball world, there wouldn’t be a slap on the wrist here; Brian Runge would be suspended for a month, the season or even fired. While that probably seems drastic, there are plenty of umpires in the minor leagues who can get most of the calls right and do so without begging for TV time. What Runge did, regardless of it having no bearing on the outcome of this particular game, was unprofessionalism at its finest. I understand that when a player or manager gets up in an umpire’s face, the umpire will often times engage and shout right back. That’s part of baseball but that wasn’t the case last night. Runge, the authority figure, took it upon himself to bait both Beltran and Manuel into ejections and there’s no room for that in the game. The league can either send Runge and his type a harsh message now, as they did with Mike Winters last season, or they can risk a much more costly altercation in the future. Should be an easy decision to make.