Irate Ortiz explodes in Baltimore

Via @TheScore

Last night, David Ortiz was ejected by home plate umpire Tim Timmons for arguing balls and strikes, and took out his frustrations on a seemingly indestructible dugout phone.

Despite the fact that Ortiz's frustration was legitimate, his behavior was not. I'm perfectly aware that ejected players and coaches often unleash their anger on inanimate objects - but it usually happens down in the tunnel, away from the prying eyes of television cameras and eliminating the risk that a teammate might become collateral damage.

You can see Dustin Pedroia leaning away from Papi's display of rage, covering his head in an attempt to protect himself from flying shards of shattered bat. After three coaches kept Ortiz from reapproaching Timmons, Pedroia gave the irate DH a piece of his mind.

Via @TheScore

Despite some Twitter speculation of a suspension, I suspect that Papi's punishment will be limited to a fine of an undisclosed amount, and perhaps a public apology for the bad example he set for all the kids out there.

But there's another issue being overlooked in all the drama over Ortiz's outburst: Tim Timmons WAS TERRIBLE last night. There needs to be a system of accountability for MLB umpires, because Timmons' poor performance wasn't a matter of a few close missed calls, but rather a constantly fluctuating strikezone.

David Ortiz's behavior was certainly inappropriate, but Timmons umpiring job was nothing less than embarrassing.

Out of position umpire

In a strange series of events today, umpire Tim McClelland ended up standing about twenty feet behind Brewers pitcher Wily Peralta for a portion of the first inning after an errant pitch took out home plate umpire Seth Buckminster.

Buckminster left the game and was attended to by Brewers training staff, and another umpire, Anthony Johnson, left the game briefly to don home plate umpiring gear. This exodus left just two umpires, McClelland and Jim Joyce, to cover the entire field and call balls and strikes, leading to McClelland's bizarre field position.

On the players' side of things, how long must it have been since Peralta pitched to a catcher without the looming presence of the umpire behind him? Even in Little League, where games often have just one umpire, that umpire is always behind the plate.

Everyone involved handled the situation admirably, and when Johnson ran out to take his place behind the plate, the crowd showed its relief with a round of applause. If you'd like, you can watch a video of the incident here.