We've had a lot of discussions here recently about people around baseball always feeling the need to give the politically correct answer during interview sessions, which for the most part is true; however that point brings me to this next story.
Hat tip to Yankees manager Joe Girardi who did about the most un-politically correct thing you can do in New York yesterday, when he called out his superstar shortstop Derek Jeter for his first inning base running blunder.
Jeter committed an error that most coaches in little league will teach you never to do. I was going to set the scene for you, but I think Mike Puma of the NY Post said it best.
Jeter took a page from the Jose Reyes base-running manual and got nailed attempting to steal third base with nobody out in the first inning.
Now for the record he was safe, but that's neither here nor there. Ultimately, Girardi, who was infuriated with the call, was ejected from the game, but following the game he turned his frustration to his players (Jeter in particular).
"The idea is to get to third base, but you have to be safe, I don't have a problem with the idea of being aggressive there, but you have to make sure you're right and [Jeter] was called out."
I have to admit I was somewhat surprised by Girardi calling out Jeter. It seems nobody ever has the @$%$ to ever call out the "captain" on a mistake, and Girardi definitely earned some points in my book.
Now to the second point of this story, which is umpire Marty Foster. I'm not even going to attempt to explain this, rather read a tidbit of this post from Pinstripe Alley.
It wasn't the call that rankled the captain. It was the reasoning he received from third-base umpire Marty Foster, who said that Jeter was out simply because the ball had beaten him.
"I was just baffled by the explanation," Jeter said. "I was told I was out, because the ball beat me, and he didn't have to tag me. I was unaware they had changed the rules."
"I just pulled my hands back and got called out," Jeter said. "I've seen everybody make mistakes on calls before, but I was baffled by the explanation."
Jeter immediately jumped up and confronted Foster, saying he hadn't been tagged by Rolen.
"He told me, 'He didn't have to,'" Jeter said. "I'm not making this up. This is what I was told."
WHAT!
I'm sorry but if this explanation is true, Marty Foster should never be able to umpire a game again.
Anyhow I just felt the need to get that out, and clear the air. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks about Joe Girardi and Marty Foster. Comment away!
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