Brett Lawrie received a four game suspension from Major League Baseball.
The penalty was imposed Wednesday and included an undisclosed fine.
Lawrie is appealing and can playing until there is a decision. He was in the starting lineup Wednesday night against the Yankees.The third baseman was ejected by plate umpire Bill Miller after arguing a called third strike in the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay.
I’m not surprised. The penalty will probably be reduced on appeal.
Very surprised the suspension was only four games. I have to believe Miller’s behavior was a factor in this, as he clearly instigated Lawrie’s explosion with what was almost certainly a deliberate bad strike call on that 3-2 pitch. MLB probably has their hands tied when it comes to disciplining umpires in these situations, but they do have the power to hand out light punishments to players and coaches who react to such bad calls. Hopefully Miller and his colleagues get the message.
I agree with ShoelesJoe. Miller’s B/S calls were utterly indefensible. The last pitch of Lawrie’s at bat was undoubtedly several inches outside, and several others were nearly as bad. I know that K Zone,Fox Trax, etc., aren’t very accurate and that camera angles can be deceiving, but, even allowing for that imprecision, those pitches were clearly outside the zone.
I have to wonder if–as David often cautions–there might be something physically wrong with Miller (vision, depth perception, etc.).
Mike-n-Ike » No, I think the ump was just pissed that Lawrie tried to take a walk before the ump called a ball.