Wikipedia Appears to Side With Ruiz on Ejection
In last night’s 5-2 loss to the Nationals, Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz was thrown out by umpire Gary Cederstrom in the 3rd inning for looking at him. According to reporter Jim Salisbury, Ruiz did not cuss, yell or even say anything offensive.
Manager Charlie Manuel stated, “[Ruiz] said he just told the umpire, ‘That was a strike,’ and when he looked up at him he threw him out of the game,” Manuel said. “When I went out there, the [umpire] said, ‘He was looking at me and I threw him out.’ “ So, he was tossed for making eye contact? Does Cederstrom think he is the Queen of England or something?
Apparently, the nice folks at Wikipedia seem to agree. If you look at the screen shot below, the line at the bottom says, “On May 22, 2012, Cederstrom threw Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz out of the game for arguing balls and strikes because everybody paid good money to see Gary Cederstrom throw people out.”
I added the screen shot because I was not sure how long it might be before Wikipedia decides to take the comment down. Or perhaps everyone there has a great sense of humor and will let the record stand as it is? It is pretty funny.
Roy Halladay also commented on the issue, as noted in Salisbury’s article. “I didn’t see anything wrong with what [Ruiz] did,” Halladay said. “He didn’t get in his face. He didn’t use obscene language. He simply said it was a strike. I’ve never seen one like that before. It’s unfortunate. He’s our best player and he got run out of the game for saying a ball was a strike. I’ve never seen that before.”
These umpires and their mega egos are simply out of control. This behavior is, or at least it should be, totally unacceptable. Will MLB respond? Doubtful.
As for the game, it sucked just as bad as the previous one. The Phillies offense went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 9 men on base. And Halladay had another bad game, giving up 5 runs in 6 innings.
The clock is ticking…if this team does not find a way to win really quickly, they could wind up buried in ahole they cannot climb out of. Game 3 with the Nats starts at 7:05pm tonight. It will be a Cole Hamels – Bryce Harper reunion ;o) Joy.
UPDATE: I was correct; Wikipedia has taken the comment off the page. Good thing I took the screen shot ;o) Funny stuff!
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