That 3rd base ump seemingly tossed Doug (and later, Pete) for nothing more than the usual banter you would expect in that kind of situation (Memo to 3B ump: coaches are allowed to argue/give feedback on calls). Isn’t there some minimum threshold a coach needs to cross in order to get tossed? You couldn’t see Doug utter any four letter words until after he was already tossed. The 3B ump seemed to have an unreasonably short fuse.

What surprised me more was that Pete was pretty calm after the guy tossed him. I used to watch the NY Yankees all the time (sorry) and man, Joe Giradri got his money’s worth on every single ejection.

Once ejected, he would sprint out of the dugout, toss his hat on the ground (to avoid inadvertently contact the ump w the brim), and then get right in the guy’s face and go completely off for about 2-3 minutes. I mean, this was next level stuff. I heard some of it directly. He might’ve used the words “stupid,” “mother,” and “ducker” 50 times or more each time. The best part was, while not making contact, he would definitely get plenty of spittle in the guy’s face, and I think it was 100% intentional. THAT really seemed to piss some umps off (and this was before Covid, haha). Usually, the other umps started walking in at that point, to make sure the confrontation didn’t go in a really bad direction. One of Girardi’s trademarks was, after you thought he was done, to turn around and walk back towards the ump and get in a few more F-bombs and finger jabs, maybe add a little dirt kick onto the guy’s pants just for good measure.

Some of the umps Girardi tangled with seemed like they really wanted to respond in kind, but knew they couldn’t. It was funny to watch them take this barrage of abuse and just look down or turn away. You eject a manager/head coach, prepare for some aftermath. Here’s the thing: it works. After Girardi bombed an ump, the strike zone almost always magically improved for his pitcher. Squeaky wheel gets the oil.

I really wish Pete had done that to this clown. He deserved it and sometimes you just need to make a point. But Pete didn’t seem to want to approach the guy and get in his face. Not sure I get why. What is the absolute worst that can happen?

BTW, Girardi was more often than not correct w his arguments. And, despite the next level aggressiveness and spittle, he was never suspended or anything beyond the ejection. It’s just part of the game. Pretty confident nothing would happen to Pete had he gone ballistic on this guy, either.