Joe Girardi disrespects umpire’s plate, gets ejected (Video)

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi didn’t like that call by the umpire, so he did what any grown man would do: put some dirt on the plate to get ejected.

While expanding video replay has been a good thing for baseball, there is one obvious downside. Players, managers and pitching coaches don’t get ejected like they used to. Long gone are the days of Bobby Cox, Lou Piniella and Earl Weaver giving “blue” the business.

Many questionable calls can now be overturned upon further review. However, arguing balls and strikes is never going to turn out well for the man who questions the strike zone.

During the New York Yankees’ road game against the AL East rival Tampa Bay Rays, Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild was tossed from the game during a mound visit. New York was already down 9-5 to the Rays in the fifth inning, but Yankees manager Joe Girardi definitely went to bat for Rothschild.

The former big league backstop used to make a living making his plate all pristine. Now he’s piling up all the dirt in Tropicana Field on top of it to prove a point. Girardi did not care for how the umpiring crew was calling the game on Saturday afternoon down in St. Petersburg.

Sometimes a manager would make on-field scenes like this to hopefully get his team fired up about him getting tossed. However, runs are not easy commodities to come by in baseball these days.

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New York would go on to lose the game to Tampa Bay by the same 9-5 score. So Girardi’s ejection did basically nothing to help the Yankees beat their AL East rival on the road. Though it doesn’t happen as often as it used to, managers getting ejected always make baseball a better viewing experience. You did good, Joe Dirt!