Publicly criticizing an umpire is usually frowned upon. It's especially criticized, apparently, when done so in the middle of a game being broadcasted on national TV.
As pointed out by Yahoo's Big League Stew blog, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has been fined for his in-game criticism of home plate umpire Jerry Meals during an interview with TBS during Game 2 of the NLDS. A source told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that MLB's vice president Joe Torre spoke with La Russa on Monday and informed him of the fine.
The St. Louis skipper was visibly upset about what he perceived to be a discrepancy in the way Meals was calling balls and strikes for La Russa's starter, Chris Carpenter and Philadelphia's Cliff Lee.
"I would add — which could get me in trouble, but I'm going to add anyway — is that we are pitching to two different strike zones," La Russa told TBS' Dick Stockton and Bob Brenly during the Game 2 telecast.
La Russa was right on about the fine, but it is unknown at this time how much MLB docked the manager. La Russa declined comment Monday.
