There are moments in sports that make you scratch your head. Most of the time it is when umpires start to take matters into their own hands. Last night, in a game that was decided long before the last out of the ninth inning, umpire Gerry Davis took matters into his own hands.
Let me set the stage for you. The Texas Rangers were trailing the Miami Marlins 16-8. Rangers ace Yu Darvish, a stalwart of trade rumors lately, had surrendered 10 earned runs in less than four innings of work. By the time the bottom of the eighth rolled around the score was out of hand and the game basically out of reach. With two outs, Rangers third baseman, Adrian Beltre was in the (metaphorical) on deck circle. And this happened:
Adrian Beltre is the greatest and Gerry Davis is in need of a sense of humor. pic.twitter.com/y9Mi5EMoC0
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 27, 2017
Okay, Beltre is hilarious. He is known for his antics all over the field and it’s hard not to root for the guy. This was a simple case of Adrian being Adrian, yet Gerry Davis didn’t find it too funny.
There are numerous things wrong with this and we’ll take them in order. First, no one warms up in the designated on-deck circle. So the choice by Gerry Davis to begin to enforce it at this juncture of the game (check the inning and the score) is absurd.
Secondly, given the score and inning of the game, what the hell is Davis doing? This is one of those moments where the umpire inserts himself into a game that is already decided and makes their presence known, for shame.
Lastly, notice that there are still people in the stands after such a lopsided affair, why are they still there? Yes, they could be wanting to get their money’s worth, but it’s deeper than that. Adrian Beltre would have gotten one more at bat in this game and he’s only four hits away from 3,000, chasing that illustrious honor for any Major League hitter. Davis took a chance to draw closer to it away and that is the most egregious error of this entire circus.
So congrats, Gerry Davis, you made your presence known, I hope it was worth it.
