Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com has a good article up about ejections in Major League Baseball this year. And how, despite the fact we have replay now, which many people thought would reduce ejections, ejections are actually up.
Castrovince explains the reasons for this, and they all make sense. The upshot: plunking wars and arguing balls and strikes -- two areas which are not subject to replay -- always were where the most ejections came from in the first place. Also worth noting -- and something I did note when people said replay would cut down on manager arguing times -- is that actual close calls that replay address don’t tend to lead to super-crazy arguments anyway, or ejections for that matter. It’s tone and temperament stuff, which is more likely to arise on balls-and-strikes that leads to the super colorful arguments.
Anyway, it’s a good story, if for no other reason than the A.J. Pierzynski anecdote which kicks it off:A.J. Pierzynski got ejected from a game this month for telling an ump, “Give me a new ball. One you can see.” http://t.co/26pKLH4SIc #RedSox
— Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) June 26, 2014
Say what you want about that guy, but he is all kinds of fun when he wants to be.