Wednesday, May 30, 2012

CHW Broadcaster Enraged at Pitcher's Ejection

Chicago White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana was ejected from this afternoon's game against the Tampa Bay Rays after throwing a pitch behind Tampa Bay Rays hitter Ben Zobrist.

Umpire Mark Wegner ejected Quintana immediately on the suspicion that Quintana was retaliating after Rays pitcher Alex Cobb hit two Chicago hitters earlier in the game.  This led to a tirade by White Sox broadcaster Ken Harrelson, which you can listen to here.

Harrelson, who is famous for his "you can put it on the Board YES!" call, is no stranger to rants on umpires.  In this instance, I think Harrelson has some reason to complain since Wegner never warned the benches prior to the ejection, but Quintana's attempted beaning seems completely intentional.  White Six catcher A.J. Pierzynski was hit in the third inning of today's game because of his hard slide into Ben Zobrist during yesterday's game.

This incident is very similar to Saturday's ejection of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Henderson Alvarez.  An outspoken broadcaster, if there actually was one calling that game with a Blue Jays bias, would have the right to go off about the umpire's decision.  It was a one run game, and after surrendering three straight homeruns, Alvarez sure didn't want any more trouble.  More importantly, Alvarez had no motive to bean Ian Kinsler.  Quintana, on the other hand, was almost certainly throwing at Zobrist on purpose.  \

While I appreciate the day-to-day enthusiasm of Harrelson, I think he would be best in toning down his bias.  Instead of immediately jumping to the conclusion that the umpire was out to get the White Sox, he should have calmed down for just a second and though about the reasons Quintana had for throwing at the batter.

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