|
Up until the ninth inning Tuesday night, we had only witnessed theupside of Brett Lawrie's fierce intensity. The gritty Canadian runs out every ground ball. He takes an extrabase on wild pitches. And he never gives up on any ball hit in hisdirection, even if it means diving three rows into the stands toretrieve it. Fans love him for his energy, determination and tenacity, butTuesday night for the first time, we saw the downside of hiscompetitive fire. It was ugly and it's likely going to result in asignificant suspension. With the count 3-1 on the Langley, B.C., native, home plate umpireBill Miller called an outside pitch from Tampa Bay Rays closerFernando Rodney a strike. Assuming it was a ball, Lawrie haddiscarded his bat and jogged about one-third of the way towardsfirst base. When Lawrie realized it had been called a strike, he paused, lookedin Miller's direction and then retrieved his bat and returned tothe batter's box. Perhaps feeling slighted by Lawrie's actions, Miller then rung thefeisty Canuck up on the next pitch that was both high and outside. Violent throw Lawrie, who had again started towards first base, stopped and did adeep knee bend before springing up and walking towards the umpire.While screaming at Miller, Lawrie violently threw his helmet intothe dirt and it bounced up and hit Miller in the leg. Fortunately, at that point, Blue Jays manager John Farrell,intervened and directed Lawrie towards the Jays dugout and resumedthe argument. Both Farrell and Lawrie were ejected. "I believe [the helmet hit him]," Lawrie told reporters after thegame. "That was not my intention at all. I've never, ever doneanything to go at an umpire before in my life and I didn't mean totonight. I apologize for that. It took an unlucky bounce and Ithink it got him, so I apologize for that." Lawrie's contriteness could be a mitigating factor in determiningthe length of his suspension. League disciplinarians may also takeinto account the fact that the helmet bounced before it hit theumpire and that Lawrie has no previous infractions. And althoughthey would never say it in their ruling, they might also considerhow bad the last two strike calls made by Miller were. "It felt like the bat was taken completely out of Brett's hands,"Farrell said in his post-game press conference. "Those are notstrikes, evident by the reaction of obviously Brett and myself. Itwas a tough ball game to lose and we've got to regroup and getready to go for New York tomorrow." It's not likely, however, that Lawrie will be in the Jays' lineupagainst the Yankees Wednesday, with his punishment expected to beannounced prior to the 7:07 p.m. ET first pitch. Suspension worthy Whether it was intentional or not - the fact that Lawrie's helmethit the umpire will earn him a suspension. Contact of any sort withan umpire is strictly forbidden. Last August, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was suspended fivegames for making contact with umpire Rob Drake. And no Blue Jaysfan will ever forget Roberto Alomar spitting in the face of homeplate umpire John Hirschbeck after he was he called out on strikeson Sept. 27, 1996 at the Rogers Centre. The Hall of Fame secondbaseman was later handed a five-game suspension. I expect that Lawrie's suspension will be in the three-to-five-gamerange. And while it's understandable that the fiery Canadian wouldbe upset by the two strike calls, it's unacceptable for him tothrow his helmet anywhere in the vicinity of an umpire. I knowLawrie is just 22, but he has to find a way to curtail his emotionsin this type of situation. Some will contend that helmet tossing is part of the fiercelyintense package that is Brett Lawrie. If that's the case, he needsto change. Fair or unfair, the Canadian infielder has become the heartbeat ofthis young Jays club. He's a leader and arguably the face of thefranchise. With this type of role comes a responsibility not tohurt his team with his temper. And by tossing his helmet, Lawriehas done just that. The good thing is, judging by Lawrie's post-game comments, he knowshis actions were wrong. Unfortunately, he'll probably have aboutfive games on the sidelines to stew over what he did. End of Story Content Back to accessibility links. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Aerial Work Platform Manufacturer , China Mast Climbing Work Platform, and more. For more , please visit Suspended Working Platform today!
Related Articles -
Aerial Work Platform Manufacturer, China Mast Climbing Work Platform,
|
