Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez doesn’t need anymore spring training; he looks like he’s already in midseason form.
The Atlanta skipper channeled his predecessor — the short-tempered Bobby Cox — on Thursday night when he was ejected after the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning of a spring training game against the New York Yankees.
Gonzalez apparently wasn’t pleased with home plate umpire Dan Iassogna’s strike zone in the top half of the first, and when Braves pitcher Shelby Miller just missed with a fastball to Jacoby Ellsbury opening the home half of the first, Gonzalez had some words for blue. Those words progressively got louder before Gonzalez was ejected for arguing balls and strikes.
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“It was balls and strikes,” Gonzalez said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I thought the balls in the first inning were down and they were calling strikes. Then Shelby throws a good pitch and they call a ball.”
Thursday’s game was a rare night tilt, and that’s another reason Gonzalez might have been so upset.
“It’s a late game in spring training and I get a little ornery because I’m usually in bed by this time. Maybe my temper got me a little bit.”
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
