{"id":24113,"date":"2019-08-15T18:33:52","date_gmt":"2019-08-15T22:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=24113"},"modified":"2019-08-15T18:33:52","modified_gmt":"2019-08-15T22:33:52","slug":"ejection-inspection-1920-brett-gardner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2019\/08\/15\/ejection-inspection-1920-brett-gardner\/","title":{"rendered":"Ejection Inspection, Week 20: Brett Gardner of New York Yankees Ejected in Case of Mistaken Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brett Gardner Ejected in Case of Mistaken Identity<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Welcome to Week 20 of Ejection Inspection! The premise and ground rules are detailed here<\/a>. The condensed version: each ejection from the previous week (Thursday through Wednesday) is listed in a table. The author \u2013 a former player\/coach\/umpire \u2013 analyzes each ejection and assigns it an entertainment rating of one to five Weavers in honor of late Baltimore Orioles<\/a> manager Earl Weaver<\/a><\/strong>. This week\u2019s highlight was one of the stranger ejections of the season, where Chris Segal ejected New York Yankees<\/a> center fielder Brett Gardner<\/a><\/strong> in a case of mistaken identity.<\/p>\n

(For a list of every article in this series, click here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

There were four ejections in Week 20 \u2013 two managers, a hitting coach, and a player.<\/p>\n

Ejection Table<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nDate<\/strong><\/td>\nTeam<\/strong><\/td>\nOpp<\/strong><\/td>\nInn.<\/strong><\/td>\nName<\/strong><\/td>\nPos<\/strong><\/td>\nUmpire<\/strong><\/td>\nPos<\/strong><\/td>\nReason<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/a><\/td>\nFri<\/td>\n8\/9<\/td>\nNYY<\/a><\/td>\n@TOR<\/a><\/td>\nT4<\/td>\nBrett Gardner<\/td>\nCF<\/td>\nChris Segal<\/td>\nHP<\/td>\nArguing balls and strikes from dugout (mistaken identity)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/a><\/td>\nFri<\/td>\n8\/9<\/td>\nMIA<\/a><\/td>\nATL<\/a><\/td>\nT5<\/td>\nDon Mattingly<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nMgr<\/td>\nJohn Tumpane<\/td>\n2B<\/td>\nArguing balk call<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/a><\/td>\nTue<\/td>\n8\/13<\/td>\nSEA<\/a><\/td>\n@DET<\/a><\/td>\nT7<\/td>\nTim Laker<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nHitC<\/td>\nEric Cooper<\/td>\nHP<\/td>\nArguing balls and strikes from dugout<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/a><\/td>\nTue<\/td>\n8\/13<\/td>\nKC<\/a><\/td>\nSTL<\/a><\/td>\nT5<\/td>\nNed Yost<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\nMgr<\/td>\nGreg Gibson<\/td>\n1B<\/td>\nArguing non-call of interference at first<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Brett Gardner, New York Yankees Center Fielder<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Friday, August 9th, at Toronto Blue Jays, top of the fourth<\/p>\n

Umpire<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Chris Segal (HP)<\/p>\n

Description<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Yankees right fielder Cameron Maybin<\/a><\/strong> took an 0-2 breaking ball that appeared to dip below the knees before crossing the plate. Segal rang him up. Maybin stood at the plate, said a few words of protest, then headed to the dugout. Meanwhile, the Yankees coaching staff yelled things like, \u201cThat ball is way down! That\u2019s low! What the (bleep) are we doing? That\u2019s awful! That\u2019s terrible! Just a bad call!\u201d Behind them, Brett Gardner took out his frustration with the strike zone by ramming his bat against the ceiling of the dugout.<\/p>\n

The first pitch to the next hitter \u2013 left fielder Mike Tauchman<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 also appeared to be low, but the fastball was called strike one. Maybin yelled, \u201cThat\u2019s (bleeping) terrible! Let\u2019s go!\u201d at Segal, who called time, took off his mask, and ejected Gardner. Boone entered the field in disbelief, pointing at himself and asking, \u201cMe? Who\u2019s out? Do you know who you just threw out?\u201d Segal replied, \u201cGardner. He just told me I\u2019m (bleeping) terrible.\u201d Boone said, \u201cI said that,\u201d and Segal countered, \u201cOkay, you\u2019re gone too, then.\u201d Boone asked, \u201cWhat do you want me to do, then? You can\u2019t do that!\u201d Segal smirked, \u201cSure I can.\u201d Boone pointed and told him it was something expelled by a bull.<\/p>\n

Brett Gardner Gets the News<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Someone in the dugout told Gardner that he had been chucked. Gardner, with a stunned look on his face, entered the field and got first base umpire Dan Iassogna\u2019s attention, saying, \u201cHey. Hey. Did he just throw me out? I didn\u2019t say anything!\u201d He continued toward the group at the plate as he explained, \u201cI didn\u2019t say a word. I didn\u2019t say one word!\u201d Somebody said something to him, and Gardner said, \u201cNo I didn\u2019t!\u201d Boone grabbed him and tried to keep him from getting to Segal and doing something stupid, but Gardner turned into a raging bull. He evaded Boone\u2019s grasp and got to Segal, where Boone intervened again. Gardner, fuming, pointed and started screaming, \u201cI didn\u2019t say a word! Not a word!\u201d over and over.<\/p>\n

After about 20-30 seconds of this, Gardner went back in the dugout, where he repeated that he didn\u2019t say a word before heading down the tunnel to the clubhouse. Boone, still confused, asked if he was also gone. Segal said no, and the game continued.<\/p>\n

Understand the frustration?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Yes. Segal was not having a good day. Furthermore, getting tossed for something someone else did isn\u2019t just frustrating \u2013 it\u2019s infuriating.<\/p>\n

Was the ejection justified?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Yes. Despite the frustration, yelling that to an umpire from the dugout is a quick way to get an early exit. The problem is that Maybin was the one who should have been run, not Gardner.<\/p>\n

Segal did not handle this well. Ejecting a player is a game-changing event. A player should only be tossed for verbal misconduct if he can be positively identified \u2013 both audially and visually \u2013 as the culprit. In this case, Segal should have gone to the dugout and told them, \u201cThat\u2019s enough!\u201d At that point, if anyone continued, then he would have been correct to bounce him.<\/p>\n

Entertainment Rating<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Four Weavers. This ejection was unusual, for one, but Gardner\u2019s reaction upon learning of his ejection was a blast to watch.\u00a0 It also deserves another photo.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>