Curse of the Sensitive Umpires: The Story Of Scott Barry

(Screenshot from MASN Broadcast)

On Wednesday night, the Nats were playing alright. They turned 3 double plays, including a remarkable 8-4 throw from Bernadina in center field. They got some hits early with 2 outs that resulted in 2 runs.

Then in the 8th inning Zimmerman came up to bat. The count was 3-1. He got a pitch on the outside corner that he thought was ball 4, but was called strike 2 by home plate ump Scott Barry. Zimm got back in the batter's box and foul tipped a ball into the glove of Brian McCann for strike 3. Zimmerman slammed his bat and helmet on the ground and immediately got ejected. He hadn't said a word.

On Tuesday night, Ivan Rodriguez was ejected in the dugout by third base ump Brian Knight, allegedly for throwing his bat. In the dugout. Apparently this umpiring crew really, really has an affinity for maple trees. How DARE these players hurt that wood? What did the bat do to them?

Anyway, this only continues this 2010 season of simply atrocious umpiring. The new young class of umps (plus Joe West/Angel Hernandez) have come into the league with the goal of being relevant. They want their names known. Well, it's working, and baseball is suffering.

I've said it a million times, so here's one more: Baseball needs to intervene.

Umpires that have short fuses and eject guys like a future Hall of Fame catcher (Pudge) or one of the most cool and collected stars in the game (Zimmerman) without an extraordinary reason should be disciplined. Zimmerman has never, ever in his MLB career been ejected from a game until Wednesday. Just one day after a Hall of Famer was ejected. That has to tell you something.

These umps are looking for a fight; so much so that they're targeting guys that aren't even looking for a fight. Something needs to be done, now.