Joe Girardi got himself ejected in a very bizarre incident yesterday. Max Scherzer had been checked for sticky stuff twice by the umpires, at Girardi's request, who found nothing. Girardi asked for a third check, which ticked Scherzer off to the point that he undid his belt and asked the umps if he needed to take his pants off.
After the inning, Scherzer shot a death glare at the Phillies dugout, which prompted Girardi to come storming out like an angry water buffalo, challenging Scherzer to fight him. Girardi then got summarily tossed. I have several thoughts on this:
1) This was clearly an attempt to rattle Scherzer, but Girardi's incredibly stupid to try picking a fight with Scherzer of all people. Scherzer is already a frothing lunatic on the mound; he's called Mad Max for a reason. I was half-expecting him to throw his jersey on the ground and elbow-drop it like Ric Flair cutting a promo.
2) The rule explicitly states that managers are not allowed to ask for a check on the pitcher in bad faith. Girardi should eat a suspension for that.
3) Pitchers are going start trolling with this. Don Sutton and Gaylord Perry were the masters of this back in the day.
Sutton once got searched by an umpire after a string of accusations. When the umpire reached into Sutton’s pocket looking for evidence, he found a note that read, “Not here, but you’re getting warmer …”
Perry would simply tell the umpires where to look, then start laughing once they started, because that’s where he was ticklish. He also told an ump once to check his back; when the umpire said he couldn’t find anything, Perry simply said he knew, but there was itch he couldn’t reach and needed help scratching it.
4) It's pretty hard to make a good-faith argument that pitchers' use of sticky stuff has curbed HBPs:
5) God help us all, I just had the thought of Tony La Russa in the World Series doing pitcher checks in the top of the inning, then pitcher matchups in the bottom of the inning; it'll take until December to finish the Series.
EDIT: On a change of topic, while I'm a day late,
Fuck the DH, 50th Anniversary Edition. Worth the click just for the Harry Kalas calls alone.
