The major league umpires took to wearing armbands as a protest against what they calling “escalating verbal attacks on MLB umpires”. They have apparantly stopped it after two days after accepting a proposal from commissioner Rob Manfred to meet with the players union. It came to a head after Ian Kinsler of the Tigers went off on umpire Angel Hernandez after being ejected for arguing balls and strikes. Kinsler said that Hernandez was 'messing with games”. He said “he's changing the game and needs to find another job. I'm not mad at him but he just needs to go away…when it becomes blatant like this, there is a problem.” Kinsler was fined but not suspended. Most everybody who follows the game knows that Hernandez is a terrible umpire. That part is not in question. Should Kinsler be suspended for his comments is what this brouhaha is about. But I think its more than that. The arrogance of some umpires has gotten out of hand. They look to be confrontational when they should be diffusing situations. Some have quick triggers and will throw out players for small trangressions. Strike zones have become ridiculous. Let's face it, fans are not spending top dollar for major league games to see Angel Hernandez or Joe West…and when one of the rogue umps throws Bryce Harper or any other player out of the games for daring to question the umps judgement and competence, fans should be upset. Like law enforcement agencies who protect rogue cops, MLB has been too permissive of umpires who believe they are more important than the game. I've got little sympathy for umpires who are taken to task for being bad at their jobs. Everybody else is held accountable…why not them.
Bartolo Colon continues to amaze. He beat the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday and has now beaten all 30 teams in major league baseball. Colon hasn't pitched well in his 19th season but can still find some magic once in awhile.
Travis Wilson of WSN reported an 8-man football score over the weekend…Luck bedat Clayton 106-0. No excuse for that.
I signed a petiton over the weekend that asks Wisconsin to bring back varsity baseball at the UW. Barry Alvarez says there isn't enough interest. I think he might be surprised. The Badgers are the only school in the Big Ten without baseball…and this is a school with a rich baseball history!
Two funny guys passed on this weekend. Jerry Lewis at 91 and Dick Gregory at 85. Both fought to improve the human condition in their own way while making people laugh along the way.
Saw a tweet from Scott Williams who said that SPASH coach Scott Anderson confirmed that Joey Hauser suffered a broken foot in a pickup game last week.
Elections have consequences…Bannon gone…It shouldnt take long for him to turn on Trump big time…Check this out, A Craigslist job listing in Phoenix is asking for minorities to work as Trump surrogates at his rally in Phoenix. The listing says they will “need to hold Trump signs, cheer on command and show diversity”. The pay is 10 bucks an hour. This isnt' a joke or fake news. I'm betting that even starving actors won't debase themselves with this gig……the debacle of the Trump presidency is being covered by some really good people including The Guardian newspaper out of London. If you would like a British perspective on whats going on, check out theguardian.com…..Trump tweets that the counterprotest in Boston was “anti-police”…lol…the police were getting cheered by the protesters, taking selfies with them and, for the most part, being completely supportive. Yes, a few assholes threw stuff at the cops, but a handful of idiots in a crowd of over 40,000 should not be spotlighted…even though that's what the right-wing squawk machine will focus on. Police Commissioner William Evans said “We had 40,000 people standing tall against bigotry and hatred in our city and that's a good feeling”.
Trump was asked about the Navy ship collision that has left a number of sailors dead and missing…his response “That's too bad”….I would imagine that the commander of the USS John McCain will be relieved of duty…would that some Republicans in Congress would have the courage to do the same thing for the Commander in Chief. What would the response be to Obama, Bush or Clinton if they would have answered like that?
Songs Of The Day
