[sebastian0622]

btw, did I mention Doug Eddings is a punk? He's unprofessional and arrogant. I couldn't believe how candid Smoltz was about the guy (bolded, bottom) when this article originally ran. The sad thing is that this isn't isolated. Eddings consistently acts the fool, from swearing at Estrada after the fact to not acknowledging his mistake in the ALCS. All emphases mine.

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/NASApp...=.jsp&c_id=atl

7/1/2005
PHILADELPHIA -- Johnny Estrada knows that a suspension is likely coming his way, but he's looking forward to the opportunity to appeal and tell Major League Baseball that he believes umpire Doug Eddings' actions on Thursday night should also land him some type of punishment.

"I just want to make sure I tell my side of the story," said Estrada. "I don't want to just be slapped with a fine or suspension without them not knowing the whole story. If they just look at the tape, it's going to look bad on my part. I want them to know why I got up and why I was so mad."

Braves manager Bobby Cox says that if Estrada is fined, no matter what the amount, the club will ask Major League Baseball to investigate Eddings' actions.

The usually mild-mannered Estrada erupted, earning his first Major League ejection, during the bottom of the first inning at Dolphins Stadium on Thursday night. Provoking him was Eddings, who didn't appreciate the fact that the Braves' catcher had moved toward the dugout after what he thought was strike three and an inning-ending strikeout.

Estrada said that as he awaited the next pitch, Eddings continued cursing in his ear, letting him know that the ball was a foot off the plate. Replays showed that it was certainly a borderline pitch, one that could have been called either way.

Estrada said that he had no problem with the call and wouldn't have said any more if Eddings hadn't continued cursing him. When he hit his boiling point, he sprung from his crouch and began his own swearing, letting the fifth-year umpire know that he didn't appreciate the disrespect.

"They shouldn't be able to talk to us like that without us being able to say something," said Estrada, who was ejected along with Cox and Mike Hampton.

As soon as Paul Lo Duca backed out of the batter's box on Thursday night, the Braves knew something was about to blow. Eddings and Estrada had [previously] exchanged words on May 16, 2004, when Milwaukee's Ben Sheets recorded 18 strikeouts against the Braves.

Given a chance to state whether that incident created some bad blood, Eddings chose to act as if he didn't remember the historic game, or even Sheets.

"Oh, from Milwaukee?" Eddings said. "Ben Sheets? Pitcher? I don't even recognize it."

When told of Eddings' response, Estrada shook his head but wasn't completely surprised. He said that he first saw the umpire's attitude during that game in Milwaukee.

When Estrada, who had gone 5-for-5 the night before, came to the plate in the ninth inning to face Sheets, he told Eddings he thought he was giving the Brewers hurler too many strikes off the plate. A brief argument brought Cox out of the dugout. With no resulting ejections, play resumed, and so, too, did the jawing.

"'That's [crazy], Johnny,' " Estrada remembers Eddings saying. "'You went 5-for-5 yesterday, and now you're going to pull that [stuff] on me.' That's what he said to me as I'm standing there in the box."

Estrada, who was surprised he hadn't been ejected that day in Milwaukee, said that he has a pretty good relationship with most every other Major League umpire.

"I've got to work with them every night," he said. "To be honest, I like most of them. I'm not in the business of showing up umpires."

John Smoltz, who has been a friend to almost everybody since coming to the Majors in 1988, was still steaming about Eddings on Friday night. Looking back, he said that if he'd been the manager, he might have pulled his team off the field and forfeited the game.

Smoltz, too, is looking for Major League Baseball to punish Eddings.

"I know Major League Baseball does what they have to do with players," said Smoltz, "but I would like to see them do something with an umpire, too, because what that umpire did [on Thursday] was about as unprofessional as you're going to get.

"[Eddings is] arrogant, and Major League Baseball in those situations needs to get the same backbone that they use when Kenny Rogers or somebody else does what would be quote-unquote 'unprofessional.' There are too many good umpires to let this guy show his immaturity or lack of professionalism."