More of the Above

So, I guess if the choice is siding with Joe Maddon or the umpires, I go with Maddon, at least off of what happened in a game against the Reds last week.  With two runners on and nobody out in the bottom of the ninth in a tied game, the Cubs’ Ben Zobrist wanted to bunt, only the ball hit him in the leg.  Zobrist went to first, that is, until the first-base umpire ruled that he swung at the ball, negating the hit-by-pitch.  Maddon went ballistic and got tossed.

The call was terrible, and Maddon was right to put on a show.  But we mustn’t pick on the poor umpires, some of whom on Saturday wore wristbands to show solidarity with poor abused Angel Hernandez.  The umpires’ association released a statement that accused the commissioner’s office of failing to “address this [the comments made by the Tigers’ Ian Kinsler about Hernandez] and other escalating attacks on umpires.”

Oh, my gosh, emergency rooms in all the MLB cities must be full of men in blue.  And there’ll be more because Commissioner Rob Manfred and his underlings have shown “lenient treatment to abusive player behavior [that] sends the wrong message to players and managers.  It’s ‘open season’ on umpires, and that’s bad for the game.”

Open season?  I have visions of Bugs Bunny being chased by Elmer Fudd.  Joe West would make a great Fudd, don’t you think?