FanPost

Tony Randazzo's bad behavior

Leon Halip

MLB umpire Tony Randazzo's handling of the two weekend ejections of Lloyd McClendon undeniably left something to be desired. On Saturday, he and the Seattle skipper had a clear disagreement as to whether McClendon deserved to be thrown out. Legendary Lloyd could be heard repeatedly demanding to know what Randazzo was going to put in his report. According to Lloyd, Randazzo's answer was, "I've seen your act before." McClendon, who didn't appreciate the personal remark, told reporters that he had been punished for comments made by someone else.

From that 2nd inning incident on Saturday, let's fast forward to Sunday and the bottom of the 7th. Alex Avila started to swing at a 3-2 pitch, then tried to hold up. On appeal, Randazzo ruled that Avila had checked his swing in time. Now, I may be a bit biased, but I thought Randazzo got the call right. But check swings – like balls/strikes and balks – are a lot more subjective than fair/foul or safe/out calls. There was some reaction from the Mariners bench, to which Randazzo appeared to respond by putting his hand on his hips and staring back. Moments later, McClendon was again ejected, for what Randazzo felt was a dismissive gesture. After a few seconds of sitting in the dugout with a confused expression, McClendon went to 1B umpire and crew chief Brian Gorman. We don't know what Gorman told McClendon – he didn't make the ejection, so what could he say? – but the veteran ump later told reporters that "Gestures are just as powerful as words sometimes." Certainly, in the wake of the Joe Nathan furor, we can't really argue with Gorman on that point.

However, even if you feel that McClendon deserved both ejections – and that would be a stretch – Randazzo's situational handling left much to be desired. Firstly, what's up with his "I've seen your act before..." comment? Yes, McClendon has been known to do things like stealing first base and throwing his hat into the crowd. And yes, one's reputation does precede them. But I highly doubt that most umpires would tolerate it if a manager brought up past history and got personal during an argument.

On Sunday, Randazzo took exception to a gesture by McClendon. After issuing the ejection, the ump proceeded to dismissively wave the manager away, perhaps in an effort to mock McClendon's actions. As Gorman said, "Gestures are just as powerful as words sometimes." Furthermore, the speed and flamboyance with which Randazzo ejected McClendon definitely suggested that the ump was still holding a grudge over the previous day's hostilities. Now, we can't say that Legendary Lloyd didn't have some hard feelings of his own, because we don't know. Maybe we're only seeing one side of this. Maybe there only is one side to this. Regardless, Randazzo's handling of Sunday's ejection was a textbook example of how NOT to deal with a manager.

But lest we simply crucify Randazzo for his conduct, consider the fact that none of us do our jobs or live our lives perfectly. Sometimes, we make mistakes. Sometimes, we deliberately do the wrong thing even though we know it's the wrong thing. We all have our own glass house. Unfortunately, Randazzo's glass house is surrounded by cameras. His goof-ups can and will be discussed and picked-apart ad nauseam on talk radio, television and the internet. If he has a bad weekend on the field, everyone knows it. He works under a microscope, while we get to look through the viewfinder. When he does well, he is unnoticed, but he's always just one blown call or other incident away from becoming the latest example of why MLB umpires are a bunch of incompetent egomaniacs who need to be reigned in.

But maybe we as fans can do better. Maybe we can keep in mind that this weekend doesn't necessarily give us the whole story about Randazzo. Maybe we can consider that McClendon is far from a saint when it comes to his dealings with umpires. Maybe if we can adore and idolize the hitter who makes an out 65% of the time, we can respect the umpire who does his job with much more efficiency. And we can definitely be glad that our jobs don't come with endless scrutiny.

Besides, we can't let all this distract us from one very important question: Can Tony Randazzo pitch the 9th inning?

EDIT: Here's an example of a so-called 'sportswriter' who is part of the problem. This guy is very brazen in playing the "umpires are out to get us" card. His evidence: an incident that happened about nine years ago, one that he can't even recount accurately. He claims that McClendon came out of the dugout and was ejected over a call blown by Randazzo in 2005, but this article – which was actually written back when the incident happened – clearly asserts otherwise. This writer goes on to add insult to inaccuracy with the tired and predictable argument that "Randazzo is a disgrace to MLB umpires and should be fired as an umpire or demoted to the minors." In his closing paragraph, this 'expert' asserts that "umpires this season seem to be getting worse and worse..." His evidence? Nada. In my opinion, this sportswriter is behaving far worse than Randazzo. What he's doing is NOT holding umpires accountable. Instead, it's a demonstration of gutless cowardice that attacks an easy target without even bothering to build a half-decent argument.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the <em>Bless You Boys</em> writing staff.