Louisville pitcher receives lengthy suspension for saying 'That's horrible' to an umpire
On Sunday afternoon, Louisville closer Michael McAvene thought he’d shut the door on a 9-7 victory for the Cardinals.
Instead, a pitch that looked like it was called a strike was instead called a ball by the home plate umpire, prompting McAvene to say “That’s horrible.”
Now, he’ll have to sit out the next four games, since his ejection for “disputing an umpire’s decision” carries an automatic four-game ban, per NCAA rules:
Ridiculous action taken, but that's the statement I expected from the @NCAA. RT@jdemling: NCAA’s statement pic.twitter.com/XRZRoQez4q
— KentuckySportsReport (@MyKSR1) June 2, 2019
“The Louisville pitcher was ejected in the bottom of the ninth inning with 2 outs for ‘disputing an umpire’s decision and unsportsmanlike conduct directed at the home plate umpire,'” the statement reads. “‘The in-game ejection for a pitcher carries an automatic four (4) game suspension.’ The rule reference is Rule 2-26-e on page 24 of the NCAA Baseball Rule Book. This is also listed on line 3 of the Misconduct chart on page 25.”
Here’s the incident below, in case you missed it:
Louisville closer just got tossed from the game for saying “that’s horrible” to the umpire. What a joke #NCAA pic.twitter.com/oedQhzjyU3
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) June 2, 2019
Now, if Louisville advances, McAvene might not be available for the super-regional round or the first couple of games in the College World Series, should the Cardinals make it that far.
What do you make of the decision from the umpire?
It was a close call. But the catcher moving his glove to the inside didn’t help the pitcher’s case. Call was reasonable, not horrible. But the ejection was, unless it came on the heels of a warning in this or the previous inning during which McAvene reportedly was barking about strike/ball calls. So does anyone know if such a warning was issued before McAvene got the boot?
That was my question also. Taken on its own, it seems like an overreaction by the ump, but if there is a history or pattern, that changes things.
Who’s to say he wasn’t talking about his pitch??
The players themselves don’t want every pitch to turn into an argument, nor the coaches, or fans. But what call by the ump is going to enforce this rule? A warning ? Do we want the game stopped for warnings, like soccer’s yellow cards ?, maybe. As for the 4 game suspension, well pitchers don’t return to pitch every game. It’s common for them to just rotate after several games off, so if suspension is the appropriate punishment, 24 hours might be the same as 4 days in baseball.
He’s a reliever. He will have to miss the entire super regional and game one of the CWS if Louisville makes it there. That could easily equate to three appearances.
Message sent.
umpires are the softest human beings on the planet.
Being an umpire myself. I don’t deal well with someone questioning balls and strikes especially the pitcher. I will say though that I would probably have issued a warning first before the ejection. Umpires put up with more crap from fans who think they know the rules. I wouldn’t call them soft just irritated by the end of a 9 inning game.
Soft? Hardly. They get harassed the entire game by both sides and they rarely react to some pretty awful stuff from fans. This guy probably over-reacted but that’s the chance you take when you run your trap. Shut up and let your coach do the talking. I only saw this little snippet but thecoach should have been out of the dugout and taking the words from his pitcher.