LOST: Gerry Davis’ Sense of Humor
Come on man, it was funny!!! Gerry Davis did not think so when he ejected Adrian Beltre for apparently showing him up. Can you help him find his sense of humor, PLEASE?
Last night in Arlington, Texas a sense of humor was lost. Apparently, an on-deck circle moved and it scared said sense of humor right out of umpire Gerry Davis.
In the bottom of the eighth inning Adrian Beltre was in the on-deck circle…….ummm, near the on-deck circle. Apparently, Beltre has been doing this for the entire series. Let’s be real here. Beltre was not pinch hitting. He had been playing all night. The Marlins won the game 22–10 for heaven’s sake. Maybe umpires lose their sense of humor when more than 20 runs are scored due to fatigue.
On a night when the Rangers were getting pummeled, perhaps a little humor was in order for everyone involved. I mean, Yu Darvish had to be sad! He is more than likely leaving Texas soon. He gave up ten runs in 3.2 innings. Perhaps Adrian was just trying to cheer him up.
The incident started with the home plate umpire, Pat Hoberg, telling Beltre that second base umpire Gerry Davis wanted him to move.
“I don’t really know,” Beltre said. “The home-plate umpire told me Gerry wanted me to move. I said, ‘Why? I don’t want to get hit. I stand here every day, I’ve been standing here for a lot of years and I’ve been standing here when he was umpiring home plate and he didn’t say nothing. Everybody stands in the same spot. Why do I have to move? I don’t want to get hit.’
“Then the second umpire came down and he told me I need to move. I told Gerry — I have no problem but I don’t want to get hit. I’ve been hit when I stand over there. He said, ‘Well I don’t’ care. You need to be on top of the mat.’ So I pulled the mat where I was at and he threw me out.
“If you see the video, you see everybody standing in the same spot. Why was that a problem today? I’ve been standing in the same spot the whole series.”
Beltre continued: “Why he pick me up? Why’d he need to throw me out? I was not trying to be funny. He told me to stand on the mat, so I pulled the mat where I was. And I stood on. I actually did what he told me.”
“He’s a great guy and a great player,” Miami rookie reliever Drew Steckenrider said. “It’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. I didn’t, honestly, know how to react out there. I went over and stood next to [Derek] Dietrich, and we just laughed with our gloves over our faces. That was the first time [I’ve noticed] a player, because it was the most extreme. I saw him back there. It wasn’t bothering me at all.”
Let’s hope Mr. Davis found his lost sense of humor before he left Arlington, Texas or it is going to be solemn for the rest of baseball.
Come on, Gerry, lighten up! Not only did you eject Beltre, you ejected Jeff Bannister too. Really?!? Self-importance is not becoming.
So let this be a warning to all of you out there. Moving the on-deck circle is an ejectionable offense, not something to be taken lightly.
P.S. I could not reach Mr. Davis for his comments on incident because he was still searching for his lost sense of humor
Perhaps this is why Davis was mad:
Doug Preszler is the type of person who can be a Cubs fan and an Iowa fan while living in South Dakota. He is a man who cares not for regional loyalty. He can be found on Twitter @PreszlerDoug, telling tales of the Dakotan Cubs fan’s existence.
