Ump Who Ejected Cabrera Same One Who Ejected Putkonen
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
COMERICA PARK (CBS DETROIT) - When Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland and umpire Chad Fairchild met on the field under adverse circumstances Sunday, it evoked a sensation of déjà vu.
Both times, Leyland took the field to protest the ejection of one of his players. This time it was third baseman Miguel Cabrera. Not so long ago - July 11 - it was relief pitcher Luke Putkonen. Both times, Fairchild was on the receiving end of some not-so-nice words from Leyland, who was later ejected.
Fairchild ejected Cabrera in the middle of an at bat after Cabrera argued two straight called strikes. Fairchild had ejected Putkonen for throwing behind Alexei Ramirez of the Chicago White Sox as apparent retaliation to Chicago's Chris Sale nearly hitting Detroit's Prince Fielder in the head right after Cabrera took Sale deep the previous at bat.
After the Putkonen incident, Leyland did not talk to the media at all following the game but said the next day that he was as mad as he had been in eight years. On Sunday, Leyland spoke with the media but did not comment on the ejection other than to say that it might have been helpful because it gave Cabrera some extra rest.
While it is not completely clear what Cabrera and Fairchild said - Cabrera gave his account, Fairchild would not say and video seems inconclusive, the resulting ejection surprised many.
Right fielder Torii Hunter said that normally some conversation at the plate is okay, but not much. He also said it depends on the umpire.
"You get some guys who are not on edge, some umpires who are not on edge," Hunter said. "Those are the nice ones, Those are the good ones. All the players respect them. Coming into a game, you know who's on edge because you speak to them and they don't speak to you back, and they're having a rough day off the field."
Left fielder Andy Dirks said that while he did not notice that Fairchild, who ejected Cabrera, was the same umpire who ejected Putkonen, he was sure other guys noticed.
He was right.
"Yeah, we knew that," Hunter said. "We knew that, but it's okay."
It was okay because the Tigers ran away with a blowout win, clobbering the Phillies 12-4. Had the game not turned out heavily in Detroit's favor, it would be a completely different story. Even as the margin of victory reduced Cabrera's ejection to an odd footnote, Hunter said the play should be looked at by the league.
"What can you do?" Hunter said. "Hopefully Major League Baseball saw that and they figure something out."
