NewsManuel suspended one game
Alomar takes Mets manager's place in contest vs. Pirates
By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com
05/09/09 12:58 PM ET
NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball rules stipulate that a suspended manager may not watch the game from the dugout, the clubhouse or any other vantage point from which he can address his team face to face.After an ejection 10 years ago, former Mets manager Bobby Valentine circumvented the rule by wearing dark sunglasses and a fake mustache on the dugout bench, which gave Jerry Manuel, the latest Mets offender, an interesting precedent.
"Maybe I can be security," Manuel joked. "I'm going to do security on the field."
A vision of Manuel slipping on a maroon Citi Field security shirt and sneaking on the field -- comical though it may be -- isn't realistic. But Manuel's suspension is. The league gave Manuel a one-game slap on the wrist on Saturday, and it fined him an undisclosed amount for his "aggressive arguing and inappropriate contact" with umpire Bill Welke during Thursday evening's 7-5 win against the Phillies.
Manuel served the suspension on Saturday afternoon; bench coach Sandy Alomar Sr. filled his role as manager.
Without a fake mustache or a maroon security polo in his possession, Manuel watched the game from general manager Omar Minaya's private suite.
Manuel was cooperative, though not entirely in agreement. What the league called "inappropriate contact," Manuel softened to "accidental cap-to-cap contact." But such distinctions are superfluous. Any physical contact with an umpire is grounds for a suspension, and Manuel's case was no different.
Tossed after arguing an obstruction call that allowed Shane Victorino to reach second base in Thursday night's game at Citi Field, Manuel continued to argue with Welke. His contention was that Jose Reyes had not impeded Victorino, who was caught in a rundown between first and second base. And Manuel said after the game that he was simply asking Welke to defer to another umpire on the play.
At one point, Manuel jutted his head forward, the brim of his cap poking Welke. And that was the action that led to his suspension.
"I didn't know what was coming at that point," Manuel said. "It's a situation where we felt we were right with arguing the call. We just wanted to get help and didn't get help."
Anthony DiComo is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
