Eric Wedge got ejected from the Indians game today for getting snippy over a ball call and a balk call.
Jeff Datz is the acting manager. He just called a pitching change.
Is Eric Wedge required to be totally hands-off from this point - including not making any phone calls to the dugout or bullpen - or does being ejected just mean you have to not be in the dugout and you can manage the team from afar?
If the rule is that he’s supposed to be “hands off”, who is in charge of making sure he doesn’t get sneaky? Surely an umpire can’t be babysitting Wedge in his office while calling the game.
It only means leaving the dugout. The manager can stay in the clubhouse. It’s an open secret that teams will often have a bench player serve as messenger if he wants to make a move.
Then there was the time Bobby Valentine got tossed as the Mets manager, went and put on the mascot costume, and came back to the field.
So who’s in charge of “catching” them? Surely there’s a phone line from Wedge’s office to the dugout. Who’s going to know/tell if he makes The McDonald’s Call To The Dugout?
The umpires, nominally, but it’s a very hard thing to catch and they have higher priorities to attend to, such as keeping the game running.
A manager’s ejection almost automatically entails a fine and suspension as well, so it’s easy to rationalize that they’re getting adequate punishment anyway. A suspended manager cannot even be in the ballpark for those games.
Hey, **organists **have been ejected. When the umpire means business, no one is safe, so the manager better be out of sight and out of touch.
Most managers know they are getting ejected as they practically beg for it, so they don’t make much of an effort to cheat the system. Besides, the manager has a staff and they are all working the game, so no great loss of strategy is looming.
A manager’s ejection almost automatically entails a fine and suspension as well,
I don’t know about the fine, but it’s rare that they’re suspended for any additional games other than the one they were ejected from. I don’t even recall our own Mr. Gardenhire (who gets eject a lot) missing an extra game except maybe one when he lit into an umpire after the game on camera.
