Well, whether Kyle Weiland ever dreamed of that possibility or not, it became a reality on Sunday, when the 24-year-old was ejected in the fifth inning for plunking Orioles designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero.
The pitch didn't look intentional, as it ran in on the hands of Guerrero and evoked a disappointed response by Weiland. In fact, it's almost a certainty that the young hurler wasn't trying to hit him.
Not only was Weiland auditioning for a potential role with the Sox down the road on Sunday, but he had already struggled a bit early on. Fortunately for the right-hander, the Sox were able to rally back from a 6-2 second-inning deficit to take a 7-6 lead before the fifth-inning ejection.
Weiland had rebounded from giving up six runs in the second inning to keep the O's offense in check in the third and fourth, earning the opportunity to try to pitch his way through the fifth inning and put himself in line for the win.
To think that this kid, called up from Triple-A for a spot start one day prior to the All-Star break, intentionally went out and drilled Vladimir Guerrero in a one-run game when he's three outs from completing the five innings required for a W goes beyond showing a lack of common sense. It shows a distinct level of obliviousness.
You can't fault home-plate umpire Marty Foster for trying to keep everyone in line two days after a Friday night matchup turned in Wrestlemania. But in that situation, he has to take a step back and fully assess the situation. If he had done that, he would have realized that he had already made a mistake an inning prior by issuing the warnings in the first place.
There's no way that Jeremy Guthrie intentionally hit Kevin Youkilis, a player who ranks second in the American League in being hit by pitches, with a lollipop changeup on the elbow to load the bases and face David Ortiz. So to issue undeserved warnings, and then follow that up by ejecting Weiland and manager Terry Francona an inning later as the direct result of an apparent disregard for those warnings, borders insanity when it comes to having a feel for the game as an umpire.
It was as if Foster went into the game with the preconceived notion that there were going to be some fireworks on Sunday afternoon. Then, when the game turned into a slugfest (from an offensive standpoint), he assumed it would turn into a slugfest (actual fisticuffs).
The only problem was that there was nothing to indicate that that was going to be the case, other than the two teams exchanging blows on Friday night, until Michael Gonzalez threw behind Ortiz with two outs in the sixth inning.
But at that point, two guys who started the game in the dugout — Weiland and Francona — were already back in the clubhouse wondering what the heck happened, and everyone else looked to be on edge.
It's the umpire's responsibility to keep order, and restore order when needed. What isn't part of the job description is to create moutains out of molehills, and start tossing around warnings and chucking players like it's going out of style — which is exactly what transpired on Sunday.
I have no doubts that Marty Foster and his crew had the best intentions on Sunday and were trying make sure the Fenway Faithful didn't witness any more chaos. But they overreacted big time, and it cost a young pitcher an opportunity to make his dream come true — unless, of course, that dream included getting thrown out of his first big-league start. But c'mon, let's be real here.
