| Tom Morris. 25th June, 2005 - 5:48 pm
 Well, it seems as if every major league manager must go through his own baseball initiations. Baltimore Orioles skipper Lee Mazilli received his very first suspension Friday, for two games, and was fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball for his behavior during Sunday's 4 - 2 victory at home over the Colorado Rockies. The "inappropriate actions" led to Mazilli's first ejection as a manager since taking over the job at the beginning of last year, and stemmed from a close-call foul ball off the bat of third baseman Chris Gomez in the sixth inning. Replays showed the ball indeed going going wide of the left-field foul pole, but this did not stop Mazilli from making an animated appearance.
Major League Baseball punished him for making contact with crew chief Charlie Reliford, as well as for throwing a tray of bubble gum from the dugout following the ejection. But Mazilli was in the dugout for last night's 7 - 5 loss to the Atlanta Braves, having sought to appeal the decision in the meantime. Of course there is no official appeals process for a manager, so Mazilli's route was to contact John McHale, MLB's senior vice president of baseball administration, to talk about the matter. Until that conversation occurs, apparently as late as after the 4th of July, the suspension will be held in abeyance by Major League Baseball. The videotape of the "scuffle" would be reviewed to see if any contact was actually made. I don't know about you, but -- contact aside-- the bubble gum antics should themselves be rewarded for "Creative and Original Use of Dugout Props", especially if Hubba Bubba or Bubbalicious brands were involved.
Lee Mazilli, who seldom leaves the dugout to dispute calls, and as mentioned has never been ejected by an umpire, chose his words carefully when speaking with the media: "I really can't comment on what's going to take place until we have the hearing and see where it goes. I'm not going to say it's severe or it's not severe. There's nothing really I can say." Wow. Now there's a man who knows how to tiptoe. Never one to try to hog the spotlight, Mazilli is a pro at deflecting attention, which makes the unusual sighting of him in an umpire's face even more precious -- like finding a rare coin. All-Time O's Great Earl Weaver must have been hiding in a corner of the dugout, pushing the man out onto the field with a notepad of instructions on how to give an ump an earful.
All that notwithstanding, I don't think it's time for Major League officials to start bolting down the bases just yet. Mazilli has experienced his first ejection, first suspension (pending), and for the first time has a ballclub with a winning record. Now his team --and starting pitching, please -- come the early days of October, simply need to give him two more rites of passage: first winning season and playoff series all in one. |
