Hillman Suspended
This sounds like a dubious suspension:
Kansas City manager Trey Hillman was suspended one game by Major League Baseball for spitting in an umpire’s eye, something Hillman said was entirely accidental if it happened at all . . . “Suspended because while I was arguing spit reportedly came out of my mouth and hit him in the eye,” Hillman said. “I didn’t see it come out. There were raindrops falling. It takes a pretty talented person to be able to spit and yell at the same time. I was yelling. There was obviously no intent . . .
. . . Hillman said the umpire immediately accused him of spitting. “He said, ‘You just spit in my eye. You spit in my eye.’ He said it twice and then played it up,” Hillman said . . . “It’s a little bit shocking to me that nobody from Major League Baseball would ask my side of it, that you’d have a game taken away from you and suspended 5 hours before game time in a division race,” he said.
If a little spittle flying form a guy’s mouth is going to lead to a suspension, then they may as well ban arguing with umpires altogther. My view: anything short of a genuine loogie should be a fine at most.
It’s probably also a good time for the ump to review the Ten Commandments of Umpiring. Number 4 and number 6 seem perfectly apt here.
“5 hours before game time in a division race” ?
Isn’t it May 27th? A bit early for referring to a division race, no? I guess maybe he means “5 hours before game time against a division rival.” Still, Royals fans should be heartened to hear their manager referring to a division race at all, shows he’s got his eyes on the prize.
Is it just me, or do umpires seem a bit more questionable in recent times? I’m with Hillman here – I saw the game and didn’t see anything that showed Hillman crossing the line like that.
I never thought I would say this, but Bob Watson might just be my favorite person in baseball.
I doubt Hillman spit in the umpires eye. That shows an amount of passion and planning that Hillman has never exhibited to this point.
Hey, one game at a time.
Apparently, spitting into someone’s chest doesn’t count, which explains why Earl weaver was never suspended for that one.
They had the big chest protectors back then.
What’s the big friggin deal?
This is MLB’s “disciplinarian” office at work: we get an age where you can’t have spittle leave your mouth when arguing, and you can’t throw NEAR someone (with or without intention) without losing time.
The goal here is to make the game on the field kid-friendly and mom-approved so on Sunday afternoon instead of the theme park the family bundles into the minivan and heads to the theme ballpark, where nothing bad ever happens and everyone’s so nice to each other.
Did you know the MLS Seattle Sounders FC has two entire sections specifically designated for drunken, rowdy carrying-on? (Of course, soccer fans generally channel their drunkenness into song, rather than into yelling “F### YOU, A-ROID!! HEY A-ROID!! F### YOU!!”) I think I’m becoming a soccer fan.