White Sox closer David Robertson calls Angels’ Mike Scioscia ‘bush league’
Was Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia trying to ice Chicago White Sox closer David Robertson on Wednesday night or was the veteran skipper just totally unaware of what he was doing while arguing a reviewed call?
That’s the question at the center of our latest baseball beef. It started during that ninth-inning call argued by Scioscia and ended with Robertson saying that Scioscia is “very bush league.”
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Let’s begin with the play that started the drama: Robertson, who was protecting a 2-1 lead in the ninth, struck out Erick Aybar to start the inning. The ball was in the dirt, but catcher Tyler Flowers trapped it and reached out to tag Aybar. The home-plate ump called it an out and no throw to first was made. But Scioscia argued that Aybar wasn’t tagged, so the play went to the replay center.
After a lengthy review, the call was upheld and Aybar was out. But Scioscia immediately came out of the dugout and stood right in front of home plate. As this order dragged on from five minutes to six minutes, you could see the frustration on Robertson’s face. Just look:
If Robertson had got the next two outs, we probably wouldn’t be talking about this today. But he didn’t. When the game started again, C.J. Cron got an infield hit and Johnny Giavotella followed with a single. Conor Gillaspie then grounded out and the tying run came across to score. The White Sox would eventually win 3-2 in 13 innings, but after the game, things still didn’t sit well with Robertson, who told reporters:
“I felt that Scioscia was very bush league, coming out there and standing in front of home plate after the play had already been reviewed,” Robertson said. “I felt like once it has been reviewed on film and he’s called out, there’s no reason for you to come back out and argue the call.”
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One point in Robertson’s favor here: It’s actually against the rules for Scioscia to come out and continue to argue the call. Once a play has been reviewed, that ruling is final. Now, if Scioscia were to say he was looking for “clarification” on the rule and happened to freeze the other team’s closer even longer, well, that could be some sly gamesmanship. But Scioscia told ESPN Chicago’s Doug Padilla that wasn’t the case:
“Absolutely that was not my intent. Absolutely not,” Scioscia said. “It was an important part because it was a possible protest. In fact, I thought I moved out of the way so he could throw, but he would have gotten a chance to throw anyway. Absolutely not. Not one iota of my intent was any gamesmanship. I had to get a reason for the ruling because if the ruling was that he killed the play, then it was something I could protest. I had to get a ruling.”
About standing in that particular spot on the field, Scioscia said, “I just happened to be where the umpire was.”
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This is definitely a he said-he-said and you can’t prove that Scioscia knowingly tried to freeze Robertson. But we will say this: You don’t manage one team for 15 years like Scioscia has without being a bit cunning. He’s also shown this season that he can survive a power struggle with his own GM.
You think — if the situation warranted — Scioscia would flinch at trying to ice the other team’s closer?
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
