Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie is likely facing a suspension after throwing his helmet in anger and hitting home plate umpire Bill Miller in Toronto Tuesday night.
With a count of three balls and one strike in the bottom of the ninth, Lawrie took back-to-back pitches from Tampa Bay Rays closer Fernando Rodney. Miller called both strikes, sending Lawrie back to the dugout.
Trouble was, when the third strike was called, Lawrie had already taken two steps toward first base, thinking he had drawn a walk. He spun around, took two steps back in the direction of the umpire and threw his batting helmet to the ground. It bounced up and struck Miller.
Lawrie was promptly ejected from the game for the outburst, but is likely to face a further suspension and/or fine because the helmet struck Miller.
I've never, ever, done anything to go at an umpire before in my life, and I didn't mean to tonight. I apologize for that," Lawrie said after the game, according to MLB.com. "It just kind of took an unlucky bounce and I think it got him, so my apologies for that."
The Blue Jays lost to the Rays 4-3. Major League Baseball has made no announcement yet as to how long they'll lose Lawrie's services.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
He did not throw it at the ump, however he did over-react to an extremely couple of awful calls...
Great to have passion but chill a bit
There are several things in baseball that make no sense to me:
1. Home town fans booing because the opposing pitcher throws to first base to keep a runner close.
2. That stupid pie-in-the-face tradition.
3. Why batters argue called balls and strikes. The current rules state that the the call will not be changed, so what exactly is the point in arguing about it? You're not going to have the umpire change his mind so either sit down or take your base!
When the fan throws a coke or beer at the ump at the end of the clip – reminds me of that classic line from Canadian Bacon by Kevin Pollack – "Wow – those Canadians are violent!"
I had a buddy that was a very, very good ballplayer. Yankee scouts were watching him for a bit. He got a bad call and threw the bat down and he was told bad sportsmanship and was never scouted again. Said it's not the image we want with kids in the stands. This was thirty years ago. I see lots of hats thrown and even bats broken and no one says crap unless it hits an ump. Having Jerry was like having a ringer on the team whenever he played. Shame.
Everyone who's scouted and didn't make it has a "reason".
i agree totally, like spitting, ball grabbing, cussing, steroid abuse,overweight players ,and fighting are ok for kids to watch, but omg don't let a helmet bounce off the ground and accidentally hit a ref
Please report it properly. He had taken steps towards first base on both pitches as they both should have been called balls. He also threw his helmet after he had been ejected, the throwing of the helmet was not why he was thrown out, it happened in frustration as he had already been thrown out for arguing a strike call.
Or, it happened because he still has some growing up to do.
ugly sleeves from what I can see in pic above.
Hey, why not ? One of the other MAJOR LEAGUE SPORTS stops all play for amateur boxing matches during regular games, and then makes the player sit in a box for 3 minutes. The player gets a nice break, and then goes back to playing.I went to see some amateur boxing matches and they started playing Hockey ! It was disgusting. Baseball really needs the electronic "boundary" like they have in Pro Tennis.
Fighting is a 5 minute penalty in hockey
I don't think I've ever seen a pro hockey player punching it out with the ref.
If this game was palyed in Florida . . . the Ump could have shot him !
Yes, it’s frustrating when a Player, Coach, Fan or commentators they see some calls out of the Strike zone. We all make mistakes yet there is NO REASON for a Player to Throw anything towards an Official, regardless of the Sport. This is a perfect situation where kids who watched this happen are more likely to display this type of unsportsmanlike conduct, not only in a Sports contest but in the Game of Life…
It appears from the clip the helmet actually hits the umpire's bag. One could argue that it actually didn't hit the umpire at all but another piece of equipment. If the umpire can proove beyond a reasonable doubt, such as he had done brilliantly with his incompetence officiating the "at bat" , that the bag is actually part of his person, then I think the player should not be suspended at all. Now, if the umpire could see a ball coming down the plate as well as he saw the beer being tossed at him, then we wouldn;t have this problem to beging with.
Scott, What would you do if an ump throws a Basball towards a Player? Can he still be able to Ump?
Dan, Good comment but the fights are between Player, not Refs
Baseball is way past it's prime, no on even watches it anymore. Way overpaid spoiled brats, pretty much like the Yankees.
The boys of summer. Real sportsmen – NOT.
Lawrie has had problems when he was a Brewer.....What’s next? Domestic Violence off the Field?
As a 30 year amateur umpire, I agree he didn't throw the helmet at the umpire. It is still not good that he got hit by the helmet, so strike 1 to the batter. Then he disputes a ball/strike call, that's just not done, strike 2. Then he gets very angry looking, jumps up and down and goes nuts, strike 3, your outahere.
By the way the ball/strike tracker showed the pitch at the very edge of the high and outside "strike box". They will get called strikes by some, and balls by others.
Without the hard work of the umpires, baseball would just be chaos!