Andy Green: the cool, calm, collected manager of the San Diego Padres. The man who is so nice and polite to the media; the man who flew to each of his players’ homes in the off-season after being given the job; the man who didn’t bat an eye after the Padres got shutout in each of their first three games of the season.
Yes, that same Andy Green got ejected on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates on one of the strangest calls baseball has ever seen. Green went completely bonkers after the umpires reversed the call twice. Twice!
In the top of the third inning, with two men out and Andrew McCutchen at third base, Francisco Cervelli came to the plate. And then this happened:
How much more of a blatant balk can you have? @Pirates pic.twitter.com/frauGXrHaw
— cory (@coryiams) April 20, 2016
Balk, or not? Well, the call on the field was a balk. Then it was reversed. Then Pirates manager Clint Hurdle came out and argued with the umpires. After a discussion by all the umpires, they reversed the call yet again. So, just to clarify, the balk was called on the field and the run counted. Then the balk call was reversed, and the run doesn’t count. Then, after discussion, call was reversed again back to it’s original call (balk), and the run scores. This sent Padres manager Andy Green into a frenzy.
https://twitter.com/BeckiSSD/status/722634079913525250
Andy Green was irate, and rightfully so. Whether or not it was a balk, the umpires reversed course after Hurdle came out of the dugout and argued. That doesn’t seem right, but the umpires so far this season have been, well, mediocre at best. In the video above, you might recognize the coach holding back Andy Green – Padres bench coach Mark McGwire, who would manage the rest of the game with Green hitting the showers early.
For fun, here’s another short clip of the beginning of Green’s tirade.
First career ejection with a side of hat throwing for Andy Green pic.twitter.com/U3rXkR69np
— Keegs (@Keeg_oh) April 20, 2016
Andy Green lost his cool, and maybe it’s just what the doctor ordered. Just to put this into perspective, the Pirates were up 2-0 at this point. The Padres were perhaps motivated by Green’s ejection, as San Diego hit three homers with McGwire as the “interim” manager. The Friars would go on to win this game 5-4 over Pittsburgh, while knocking Pirates ace Francisco Liriano out of the game after 4 1/3 innings.
This was a side of Green that might have surprised a lot of people. However, for those baseball gurus out there, Green has done something of this sort before, in the minor leagues in 2012, while managing the Missoula Osprey of the Pioneer League. Green went absolutely nuts in that game, and seeing that one makes the ejection from Tuesday night look not nearly as bad.
https://twitter.com/CT2SD/status/722627401427988480
Andy Green gets ejected, Big Mac comes in to manage, the Padres score five runs and hit three home runs to beat the Pirates. Green left with the score 2-0 after the balk, and the Padres went off after Green went off of the field into the clubhouse. The rookie manager had a few thoughts after the game on the ejection.
“As long as I’ve been around I don’t think I’ve seen a reversal of a reversal. I think that’s where the frustration was on my part,” Green said.
Andy Green is absolutely right. You make a call on the field, then change it, then after the opposing manager comes out to argue, you change it again? There must be somebody at the league office looking at this and questioning the way the whole situation was handled. These are professional umpires, and while it could have gone either way, the umpires shouldn’t go back and forth so much.
The Padres manager was pretty happy about the outcome of the game, whether he was in the dugout at the finish or not.
“They took some good swings. Clearly when Mark McGwire is managing, they hit home runs,” Green joked after the game.
After a 4-8 start to the season, and a sub-par offensive showing, maybe Green’s ejection was just what the Padres needed to get going. Zero runs until Green gets tossed, and five runs and three four-baggers after the mild-mannered manager was sent to the locker rooms early.
You have to applaud Andy Green for backing up his team. A lot of managers, whose names won’t be included, would just sit back in the dugout and let the situation go. Green was outraged, clearly, and the umpires made a mistake, whether the call was correct or not.
Perhaps this is a sign of things to come for the San Diego Padres. Hats off to Andy Green, literally.
Quotes credit to Bernie Wilson, Associated Press
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