A manager on fire. There's no other way to describe what went down Sunday during the third inning of the Yankees' comfortable 10-1 rout of the Mariners. Rather than walk away from an infuriating call that was only made more confusing by the replay verdict, Joe Girardi chose to channel his inner Billy Martin, spiking his cap to the turf, then flapping his arms at the umpires as he stormed off for his fifth ejection this season.
Girardi, in the walk year of his Yankees' contract, isn't going anywhere quietly. Not with five weeks left, and his Bronx future potentially on the line, perhaps tied to a playoff berth that no one would dare to predict back in April. The '17 season began as a reboot for the 27-time world champs, but those expectations dramatically changed around the trade deadline, and now it's up to Girardi to pilot these Yankees into October.
Just making the playoffs shouldn't be a problem. But with the Indians' visit to the Stadium beginning Monday, followed by the Red Sox over the weekend, things are tightening up in the Bronx. And Girardi isn't about to let stuff slide, as we witnessed during Sunday's on-field confrontation with crew chief Mike Everitt.
The Yankees already were up, 6-1, thanks in part to the Mariners' five errors in the first inning alone. But that didn't stop Girardi from getting furious over the Yankees' foiled double-play attempt in the third inning, when the Mariners' Jean Segura veered onto the grass _ a blatant effort to obstruct Didi Gregorius before sliding a solid six feet wide of the bag toward the shortstop.
How many times have we been through this? Whether you call it the Chase Utley Rule, or prefer to name it after Ruben Tejada _ the Met who had his leg broken _ the official title is 6.01 (j) and the purpose is to prevent any more calamitous injuries. What Segura did certainly appeared illegal, and Gregorius even short-hopped his return throw, which Chase Headley couldn't handle on the bounce.
So out came Girardi asking for the video review, confident that Segura would be called for interference and the Yankees awarded the double play. But when Everitt took off the headphones and signaled safe, confirming the call, Girardi marched out to argue further, even through he knew that was likely to get him tossed.
"Well, clearly I don't understand the rule," Girardi said. "Because a runner's not supposed to deviate his path to second base and he's supposed to be able to touch the bag when he slides. I didn't see either of those things."
Girardi claimed he only wanted an explanation. But after Everitt warned him numerous times not to come back out, even gesturing with his arms, the manager did anyway. And once the conversation got heated, Girardi flung down his cap, yelled some more, then stomped off toward the dugout as the crowd of 40,112 roared in approval.
"I'm going to protect my players _ that's the bottom line," Girardi said. "For the life of me I don't understand it."
We thought the evidence was irrefutable as well, so it only made sense to check in with the umpiring crew to hear what they saw on the play. Everitt was happy to oblige, and read a statement from the central replay office that, to us, didn't necessarily clear things up.
"He engaged in a non-bona fide slide in altering his pathway," Everitt said. "However, he did not hinder or impede the fielder. Therefore, you cannot have slide interference."
A "bona-fide slide," in layman's terms, basically means a legal one under Rule 6.01 (j). Without getting too technical, MLB just wants players to slide early enough, and within reach _ by arm or leg _ of the bag so the fielders won't be maliciously targeted. By definition, if a slide is illegal, or non-bona fide, shouldn't that be a violation, regardless of the outcome?
Apparently not, and we can understand Girardi's irritation. This was his second ejection in only four days after getting bounced during Thursday's melee in Detroit, where he was critical of the umps' handling of that Wild West atmosphere. It's only going to get wilder from here to the finish, with Girardi riding shotgun.
