LFTP: Ejection of Terry Francona

Watch the video above.  Anything to learn?  No, I'm not talking about whether that pitch was low, I'm talking about the interaction between Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona and MLB umpire Ron Kulpa (an MLB umpire for over 15 years).

While the video does not explicitly show the actions of Kulpa, the announcers describe it around the 0:19 mark.  Francona, not happy with the call starts walking up the steps to the dugout and Kulpa waves his hand at him brushing him off in a "Nope.  Stay back.  I don't want to talk to you" manner.

Francona believes (read: interprets) the action to be extremely disrespectful and lets Kulpa hear about it on his way to being ejected.

In MLB, players/coaches are not allowed to argue balls and strikes.  Doing so is an automatic ejection so Francona was gone anyway.  However, the actions of the umpire here did not help his cause and he probably lost some credibility with the Indians organization because of it.

Take away from this video: We are all going to make bad calls or have bad games.  During those trying times, despite what we hear from the players, fans, or coaches, we need to remember that we are called to be above the fray.  One call or one game does not define your abilities as an official, but how you act during that game may give you a reputation going forward.


Some points:

• We are human, we make mistakes.
• Players, fans, and coaches deserve our respect.
• Remember what you say and what you can be interpreted differently by different people.  Do not do or say anything that may put you in a bad light.
• If there is a legitimate question, there needs to be a legitimate answer.  That answer, sometimes, can be "I missed it Coach.  I'll get it next time."
• Note: However, coaches have to be respectful at the same time.
• Do not tell a head coach "You can't talk to me." or brush him/her off.
• Note: Their request to talk has to be during a reasonable time of the game like a dead-ball and has to be a legitimate question.