Umpires continue to find new ways to eject people from games, and of course this one involves Joe West.
During the seventh inning of Sunday’s Nationals-Braves game, Washington GM Mike Rizzo appeared to be tossed while watching from the third deck at Truist Park.
Umpire Hunter Wendelstedt stopped the game and began pointing up toward the stands behind home plate. Someone can be heard on the broadcast saying “you’re done. You’re out. … call security.”
West, the crew chief, is seen walking toward the dugout and was later shown on a phone – presumably with security to remove the culprit.
Cameras showed Rizzo standing outside a suite screaming toward the field without a mask on.
The Nationals’ MASN account tweeted that Rizzo was “apparently ejected from Sunday’s matchup with the Braves.”
Afterwards, West confirmed it was Rizzo who was ejected from the game in only a way West could.
"“I wouldn’t take that from a player. I wouldn’t take that from a manager,” West told The Associated Press. “If it was Donald Trump, I’d eject him, too. But I’d still vote for him.”
With no fans in the stands this year, several players who sit in the seats due to social distancing guidelines have been tossed this season, but this appears to be the first instance where an executive mouthed his way out of a game.
Executives are typically watching games inside their suites and are not involved with the action on the field. But, again, without fans we are witnessing things for the first time on a baseball field this year and general manager being tossed from his suite is certainly one of them.
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