2009 Baseball Ejections: Wild Wild West

Nearly two years ago, I compiled a list of players, managers, and coaches who had been ejected from Major League Baseball games in 2007. It was a time-consuming process that I always assumed could be done more easily than the method I used, which involved me sitting in front of the computer, clicking on each individual box score and scrolling down to the bottom to see if anyone had been tossed. Because of the amount of time involved and the fact that last summer was, on a scale of 1-10, a 1.3 for me personally, I decided not to put another list together.

Lately, though, I got an itch. Maybe it was the Eddie Guardado ejection on April 30, when Easy Eddie was brought into the game with the bases loaded, promptly walked the first batter he faced on four pitches, was removed from the game, THEN ejected by the home plate umpire. Or maybe it was April 12, when Joe West went on a rampage, tossing three Los Angeles Angels who had the temerity to express displeasure that Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett appeared to have thrown intentionally at Bobby Abreu's head (manager Mike Scioscia joined them the next inning when he was given the heave-ho by Ed Rapuono; ironically, Beckett was the one who was later suspended for his actions).

Actually, I don't remember when I decided to put this list together again, but I remember when I knew it was a good idea: on May 16, when Angels pitcher John Lackey (angry start for the Halos, with seven ejections already) was thrown out for hitting Ian Kinsler in the ribs. The catch, of course, was that even though Kinsler had hit two homeruns the night before and was leading off the game, it was Lackey's first game of the season after spending six weeks on the disabled list. He threw two pitches. The ump who ran him was not, unfortunately, Joe West.

The current list of 2009 ejections is below. Please feel free to email or comment with any that I have missed or misidentified. And, if you stumbled upon this and find the subject reasonably interesting, you owe it to yourself to check out The Left Field Corner, home of the MLB Umpire Ejection Fantasy League. My stuff is basically found in list form - over there, they give a lot of information, with links and graphs and all sorts of cool stuff. It's pretty awesome.

(Oh, and at some point, the plan is to go back through previous years and take down that information as well. I know places like Elias and SABR keep lists of these things, but I've never been able to find them online. If they are, and my life's work is now worthless, feel free to break the bad news, gently.)

(complete through May 20, 2009)

Japan (World Baseball Classic)
March 17 – Kenji Johjima, catcher
Top 7th by home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt

Baltimore Orioles (2)
April 28 – Dave Trembly, manager
Top 7th by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez for arguing a balk call

May 3 – Dave Trembly, manager (2)
Bottom 5th by home plate umpire Chris Tiller for arguing balls and strikes

Boston Red Sox (1)
May 14 – Terry Francona, manager
Top 10th by home plate umpire Bill Miller for arguing balls and strikes

Chicago Cubs (1)
April 16 – Milton Bradley, pinch hitter
Bottom 6th by home plate umpire Larry Vanover for arguing balls and strikes

Chicago White Sox (2)
May 13 – Jermaine Dye, right field
Top 6th by home plate umpire Mike DiMuro for arguing balls and strikes

May 13 – Ozzie Guillen, manager
Top 6th by home plate umpire Mike DiMuro for arguing balls and strikes

Cincinnati Reds (2)
April 25 – Dusty Baker, manager
Bottom 4th by home plate umpire Mike Estabrook for arguing balls and strikes

April 25 – Jerry Hairston, Jr., center field
Bottom 4th by home plate umpire Mike Estabrook for arguing balls and strikes

Cleveland Indians (2)
April 27 – Eric Wedge, manager
Top 4th by home plate umpire CB Bucknor for arguing a foul ball call

May 15 – Eric Wedge, manager (2)
Top 3rd by home plate umpire Greg Gibson for arguing a play at the plate

Colorado Rockies (1)
April 13 – Clint Hurdle, manager
Mid 5th by first base umpire Tim McClelland for arguing a balk call

Detroit Tigers (1)
May 13 – Jim Leyland, manager
Top 7th by home plate umpire Paul Schrieber for arguing after Schrieber made physical contact with Detroit’s Magglio Ordonez

Florida Marlins (4)
May 15 – Fredi Gonzalez, manager
Bottom 8th by first base umpire Ed Rapuono for arguing a hit batsman call

May 15 – Dan Uggla, second base
Bottom 8th by home plate umpire Joe West for arguing balls and strikes

May 15 – Emilio Bonifacio, second base
Bottom 9th by first base umpire Ed Rapuono for arguing a call at first base

May 20 – Jeremy Hermida, left field
Bottom 10th by home plate umpire Todd Tichenor for arguing balls and strikes

Houston Astros (2)
April 25 – Ivan Rodriguez, catcher
Top 8th by home plate umpire Mike Dimuro for arguing balls and strikes

April 25 – Cecil Cooper, manager
Top 8th by home plate umpire Mike Dimuro for arguing balls and strikes

Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim (7)
April 12 – Mickey Hatcher, hitting coach
Bottom 1st by second base umpire Joe West for arguing after Boston pitcher Josh Beckett threw at Bobby Abreu

April 12 – Torii Hunter, center field
Bottom 1st by second base umpire Joe West for arguing after Boston pitcher Josh Beckett threw at Bobby Abreu

April 12 – Justin Speier, pitcher
Bottom 1st by second base umpire Joe West for arguing after Boston pitcher Josh Beckett threw at Bobby Abreu

April 12 – Mike Scioscia, manager
Top 2nd by third base umpire Ed Rapuano for continuing to argue the previous ejections

April 21 – Mike Scioscia, manager (2)
Bottom 6th by home plate umpire Tim Timmons for arguing balls and strikes

May 6 – Mike Scioscia, manager (3)
Top 8th by home plate umpire Bill Hohn for arguing a warning

May 16 – John Lackey, pitcher
Bottom 1st by home plate umpire Bob Davidson for hitting a batter (It was Lackey’s first start of the season after spending the first six weeks on the disabled list. He threw two pitches: the first went behind Kinsler, the second hit him in the ribs.)

Minnesota Twins (1)
May 14 – Ron Gardenhire, manager
Bottom 7th by home plate umpire Paul Nauert for arguing a hit batsman

New York Mets (2)
May 7 – Jerry Manuel, manager
Top 8th by first base umpire Bill Welke for arguing an obstruction call

May 15 – Jerry Manuel, manager (2)
Top 8th by home plate umpire Doug Eddings for arguing balls and strikes

New York Yankees (3)
May 4 – Joe Girardi, manager
Bottom 5th by home plate umpire Jerry Meals for arguing balls and strikes

May 6 – Nick Swisher, right field
Bottom 7th by home plate umpire James Hoye for arguing balls and strikes

May 15 – Johnny Damon, left field
Bottom 3rd by home plate umpire Wally Bell for arguing balls and strikes

Oakland Athletics (1)
May 9 – Bob Geren, manager
Bottom 7th by home plate umpire Paul Nauert for arguing balls and strikes

Philadelphia Phillies (1)
April 25 – Charlie Manuel, manager
Top 10th by home plate umpire Ed Montague for arguing balls and strikes

San Francisco Giants (2)
May 15 – Bruce Bochy, manager
Bottom 8th by home plate umpire Doug Eddings for arguing balls and strikes

May 20 – Bruce Bochy, manager (2)
Top 8th by first base umpire Gary Cederstrom for arguing a play at first base

Tampa Bay Rays (2)
April 16 – Joe Maddon, manager
Top 6th by home plate umpire Brian Gorman for arguing a foul ball

May 2 – Jim Hickey, pitching coach
Top 7th by home plate umpire John Hirschbeck for arguing balls and strikes

Texas Rangers (2)
April 28 – Chris Davis, first base
Bottom 6th by home plate umpire Eric Cooper for arguing balls and strikes

April 30 – Eddie Guardado, pitcher
Top 7th by home plate umpire Angel Campos (“Before Matt Holliday homered in the ninth, Oakland got runs on two sacrifice flies and a bases-loaded walk issued by Eddie Guardado, who threw four balls to the only batter he faced and was ejected by umpire Angel Campos after he had already been taken out of the game.”)

Washington Nationals (2)
April 17 – Manny Acta, manager
Bottom 4th by home plate umpire Tim Timmons for arguing balls and strikes