During our visit the Shea Stadium the other day to see the Mets get shellacked by the Mariners, the one genuinely exciting thing we saw was the confrontation between manager Jerry Manuel and home plate ump Brian Runge. Even from our upper deck seats we could see that Runge initially bumped Manuel and wondered then if they would ever suspend an umpire for that. Apparently they would, as Runge has been booted for a game by the league for the ordeal. Has anyone ever thought that he was just trying to protect himself from getting shivved?

The action couldn’t have come as a complete surprise to Runge. “I talked to Jerry, and that is all I am going to say,” Runge said in a short interview outside the umpires’ locker room at Shea Stadium after Wednesday night’s game. “I will let the commissioner’s office do the rest of the talking.”

Man, what is up with umps and referees these days? One day soon, we’re going to bring you a story about a ref that was betting on a game where he called a bad foul, which brought out the manager, who ultimately bites him in the face.

And we won’t even bat an eyelash.

Umpire Suspended for Altercation With Manuel [NY Times]
Image [NY Times]