Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Too many rules going on here if you ask me


So Ian Kinsler has been suspended for one game for joining his team in an on-field celebration of a walk-off victory after he had earlier been ejected from the game.

?!?!

A game ejection does not end at the conclusion of the game?

Do the umpires do like an "attendance" thing during these celebrations?

Can he stand at the clubhouse tunnel to the field and give his teammates a celebratory thumbs-up?

Can he be seen?

Can he be anywhere in sight of the field?

Where is his line of demarcation?

Clarification needed here.

2 comments:

Field of Cards said...

Maybe if Ian had donned a Bobby Valentine type disguise things would have worked out better.

It is a silly suspension. However, I think it's more about setting precedent (or if not precedent, reinforcing what ejections mean).

In an extreme example, if a player punched an umpire and was ejected from the game as a result, Major League Baseball wouldn't want that player prancing around the field after the game winning run crosses home plate.

From that position, the suspension is a good decision and makes sense. Ian ended up carrying the message to others, and the penalty to him is essentially nothing. Win, win.

Contrary Guy said...

I gotcha.

If I was motivated, I would look up the rule on when a game ejection "ends".

My thought was, and I guess still is, that any game ejection ends when the game ends.

I am still amused by the thought of the umpires surveying the celebration and writing down the names of those who participated.

Ian also could have used the Theo Epstein gorilla-suit disguise which would have been even more effective.

A short, and probably boring, story. When I played adult ball, we had a guy ejected for throwing a bat. He returned to the stands about 20 minutes later all bundled up in winter clothing gear on a 90 degree day. A female spectator on the other side complained to the umpire and said she felt "scared". I though it was pretty funny. He got "re-ejected".