I missed this previously, but apparently home plate umpire Bill Hohn gave Marlins’ catcher John Baker the rock after the Florida-Atlanta game on Wednesday:
Several Braves players said they were surprised and even “shocked” to see umpire Bill Hohn bump fists with Marlins catcher John Baker after the final out of the Braves’ 6-3 loss Tuesday. While other players and manager Bobby Cox either had no comment or would only discuss it off the record, third baseman Chipper Jones had a scathing review of Hohn’s game, including ejections of manager Bobby Cox and catcher Brian McCann.
Video of the most famous fist-bump since Barack and Michelle can be seen here. Looks like Baker put it out there first. In Hohn’s defense, maybe he’s just the kind of guy who doesn’t like to leave a dude hangin’, ya know?
But Hohn isn’t really worthy of a defense, as his ejections of Bobby Cox and Brian McCann showed far worse form. Basically, Hohn heard someone shout from the Braves’ dugout -- probably McCann, who had argued balls and strikes earlier -- called time, and then walked over to argue with Cox, who had not left the dugout prior to any of this. During the argument, he pulled out his lineup card and, according to the article, told Cox that he was going to eject someone, but didn’t know who. Cox, taken aback, told Hohn to eject him instead and he did. McCann was ejected soon after. Video of the whole incident can be seen here.
Are we cool with an umpire stopping the game to walk over and bait one of the team’s managers into a fight? Isn’t dealing with heckling players and managers the first thing you learn in umpire school? Everyone’s talking about the fist bump, but that’s just kind of dumb. The fact that an umpire thinks it appropriate to get into it like Hohn did is clearly over the line. And no, this is not the first time Hohn has gotten out of control.
The guy’s a disgrace, and should be suspended at the very least.