2019 Earl Weaver Awards
Welcome to the final regular season edition of Ejection Inspection! The premise and ground rules are detailed here. The condensed version: each ejection from the previous week (Thursday through Wednesday) is listed in a table. The author – a former player/coach/umpire – analyzes each ejection and assigns it an entertainment rating of one to five Weavers in honor of late Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver. This edition will hand out the 2019 Earl Weaver Awards.
(For a list of every article in this series, click here.)
Team Totals
| No. | |
| CIN | 23 |
| KC | 13 |
| PIT | 12 |
| CWS, DET | 11 |
| PHL, WSN | 10 |
| CHC, MIL, NYY | 9 |
| ATL, SD | 8 |
| SEA | 7 |
| BAL, COL, OAK, TOR | 6 |
| AZ, BOS, HOU, MIA, NYM, SF, TEX | 5 |
| LAA, LAD, MIN | 4 |
| STL | 3 |
| TB | 2 |
| CLE | 1 |
Miscellany
Before getting to the awards, here are some miscellaneous statistics and breakdowns of the 2019 season’s ejections. There were 217, and they came from 76 umpires. Few of these miscellaneous statistics have any meaning or correlation to anything; they are simply observations.
Days of the Week
| Sunday – 38 | Thursday – 21 |
| Monday – 17 | Friday – 25 |
| Tuesday – 38 | Saturday – 49 |
| Wednesday – 29 |
Months
| March – 3 | July – 41 |
| April – 36 | August – 31 |
| May – 31 | September – 35 |
| June – 40 |
Inning
| 1st – 12 (all in the bottom of the inning) | 8th – 28 |
| 2nd – 11 | 9th – 34 (five for fighting) |
| 3rd – Nine | 10th – None |
| 4th – 25 (four for fighting) | 11th – Four |
| 5th – 36 | 12th – One |
| 6th – 30 | Postgame – One |
| 7th – 26 |
Positions
| P – 26 | DH – 6 |
| C – 8 | PH – 4 |
| 1B – 8 | First Base Coach – 1 |
| 2B – 3 | Manager – 98 |
| 3B – 9 | Hitting Coach – 6 |
| SS – 6 | Bench Coach – 3 |
| LF – 8 | Pitching Coach – 3 |
| CF – 12 | Asst Hitting Coach – 1 |
| RF – 15 | Field Coordinator – 1 |
Earl Weaver Awards
Most Common Reason
Of the 217 ejections, 121 were for arguing balls and strikes. This should not be a surprise to anyone. As far as other reasons go, 15 ejections came from arguing a checked swing. Nine were for some sort of fighting, and five were for arguing a replay decision.
Most Ejections, Player
Detroit Tigers designated hitter Miguel Cabrera led all players with three ejections (Week Seven, Week 15, Week 21). Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians outfielder Yasiel Puig also had three during his tenure with the Reds, but two came during a fight, giving the award to Cabrera.
Most Ejections, Manager
Three managers finished the season with eight. They were Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell, Chicago White Sox manager Rick Renteria, and Detroit Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire.
Most Ejections, Umpire
Mike Estabrook had 13 ejections this season – by far the most.
Weirdest Ejection
Then-San Diego Padres manager Andy Green and pitcher Matt Strahm both received marching orders against the Colorado Rockies in Denver on June 15th over a complete misunderstanding. Strahm yelled “Come on, Phil!” for teammate Phil Maton, who was pitching. Third base umpire Mike Everitt thought he was yelling “Come on, Bill!” to argue with plate umpire Bill Welke and ultimately ran Strahm. Green came out of the dugout to explain the situation, and Welke poured gasoline on the fire, all but calling Green a liar. A long scene ensued, culminating in Green’s second ejection of the year – both by Welke.
Most Ridiculous Antics
This award goes to New York Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner for ramming the bat against the dugout roof on August 17th against the Cleveland Indians. He did this a few times this season, but that was the first time he was ejected over it. In a shocking postscript, he didn’t do it again.
Most Unfair
This goes to Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. On September 20th, he said, “That’s low” twice in the dugout, and then Greg Gibson launched him without giving any warning or even a “that’s enough.”
Most Weavers, Umpire
Mike Estabrook drew 25 total Weavers from his ejections, but he had 13 ejections, making less than two per ejection. However, he had six that earned Three Weavers or higher. The highest average Weavers from umpires who had two or more ejections came from Mike Muchlinski. His June 30th ejection of Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo earned five, while his other ejection – Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward on September 12th – earned three.
Most Average Weavers, Manager
This award only went to managers who had multiple ejections, otherwise Lovullo would have won, since his only ejection was a fiver. Until the last weekend of the season, this award would have gone to Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell, whose average was 4.5. However, his ejection in Denver earned zero, knocking his average down to three. This gave the title to New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who averaged 3.6 Weavers across his five ejections.
Ejection of the Year
Third Place goes to Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo for his dumping on June 30th in San Francisco by Mike Muchlinski. Muchlinski baited him into the ejection, prompting the mild-mannered Lovullo to bolt out of the dugout and show Muchlinski with his fingers just how far outside he thought Madison Bumgarner’s pitches were. That wasn’t what gave this such a high rating, though. Muchlinski walked up the third base line, and Lovullo stayed with him for a good 200 feet. This would have made Earl Weaver proud.
Second Place goes to Yankees manager Aaron Boone for his classic ejection on July 18th at home against the Tampa Bay Rays by Brennan Miller. This was the famous rant that got Yankee fans to call their hitters “savages.” This also would have made Earl Weaver proud.
First place goes to Brewers manager Craig Counsell for his bouncing on May 25th at home against the Philadelphia Phillies by Mike Estabrook. This was the first Five Weaver ejection of the season, and it was a beauty. It received first place over the “savages” rant because it had a back and forth, with neither party backing down, while the “savages” rant was a one-sided conversation. This definitely would have made Earl Weaver proud.
Keep a lookout for special editions of Ejection Inspection if there are any in the postseason. Enjoy October Baseball!
Evan Thompson played baseball as a youth and teenager. He also umpired between 1995 and 2004 and has coached at the high school level.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
