Tuesday night, Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie of the Toronto Blue Jays showed us there is a third way to deal with a bad call — spike your helmet at the umpire.
Lawrie was upset with home-plate umpire Bill Miller after consecutive strike calls in the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. Both pitches appeared to be well outside the strike zone, with the second of the two questionable calls going for strike three. After the strikeout, Lawrie spiked his helmet into the ground in frustration, which bounced back up and hit Miller in the right hip.
On Wednesday, the MLB handed down a four game suspension and an undisclosed fine to Lawrie, for his “aggressive actions toward umpire Bill Miller”. According to ESPN, Lawrie has already appealed his suspension and will be allowed to play until a decision is made.
To put the suspension into perspective, Lawrie said he had no intention of hitting Miller and did not mean for his helmet to bounce in his direction. Also, Lawrie appeared to be correct in his anger, as both pitches were almost certainly balls.
However, one of the most important rules of baseball is never to make contact with an umpire in any way, neither by personal force or the use of an object. Lawrie lost his cool in his outrage, and fired his helmet at the dirt while yelling at Miller.
As Lawrie awaits word from the MLB on his appeal, what do you think about his suspension?
Was Brett Lawrie's Suspension Too Harsh?
