Adrian Beltre has put in some Hall of Fame-type work in his MLB career and instead of reaping the praise and respect worthy of a guy approaching the coveted 3,000 hit plateau, he falls victim to a power trip by second base umpire Gerry Davis, a 34-year vet who woke up on the wrong side of the bed on Wednesday.
Beltre was giving the Mets problems as he had already hit three extra-base hits, including a homer, and moved four hits away from the coveted hits total.
In the eighth inning of Wednesday’s Marlins-Rangers game, things went south. According to MLB.com, When Beltre is on deck, he usually declines to stand in the pre-arranged on-deck circle, instead choosing to position himself nearly behind the batter who is currently at the plate. He’s been doing that his entire career and had never been told to alter his routine in his 20 years of playing, but second base umpire Gerry Davis had a problem with it.
Davis instructed Beltre to stand in the on-deck circle, but rather than comply, Beltre dragged the mat to where he was already standing. Davis ejected him on the spot.”
“I wasn’t being funny,” Beltre told reporters. “He told me to stand on the mat so I pulled the mat where I was and stand on it. I actually did what he told me. I was listening.”
MLB Network noted that the reason Beltre stands so far away from the circle is because he’s been struck by stray foul balls in that spot before. He doesn’t want to get hit, so he picks a spot where that’s less likely to occur. Until now, it’s never been a problem. Beltre was kind of surprised by it as well. When a player is in a good flow, he doesn’t want anybody messing with this routine. A veteran ump like Davis should know that. If it was that serious he could have spoken to Beltre on the side in between innings or something.
Adrian Beltre baffled by on-deck circle ejection
Adrian Beltre said he’s been standing in a similar spot by the on-deck circle for 20 years and was confounded by crew chief Gerry Davis ejecting him in the 8th inning Wednesday night (Video by Stefan Stevenson).
Rangers manager Jeff Banister was tight. He started beefing and he also got ejected. Maybe Davis overreacted, but he obviously didnt like Beltre showing him up. At the same time, you have to treat a player of Beltres stature with a little more respect and if hes been standing in the same spot for decades, last night wasnt the time to try and teach an old dog new tricks.
