Quote:
Originally Posted by phenom
From what I can gather, it was LaRussa's responsibility to ask the umpires to inspect Rogers' hand. LaRussa even said he brought it up to the umpire and basically asked the ump to tell Rogers to wash it off, and if that didn't work, he'd take it further.
Don't blame the umps for failing to thoroughly inspect Rogers; blame LaRussa.
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Actually LaRussa did about all he could. It is the responsibility of the umpires to inspect Rogers for a foreign substance. It is not an appeal play - like batting out of order or leaving early when tagging up. If the umpire feels there is an illegal substance he is to follow through with an ejection, regardless of what the opposing manager does.
In this case it appears that the umpires did not investigate the situation very thoroughly, or chose to overlook it once Rogers washed his hands. Had they had the insight of similar instances in prior games, I am guessing their investigation would have taken a different turn.
About all LaRussa could have done differently was make a bigger deal of it (waiving hands, jumping up and down) when he brought it to the umpire's attention. This would have brought even more scrutiny from Palermo, MLB officials and the broadcast, which would likely have resulted in the plate umpire going to the mound immediately. Instead LaRussa was low-key and the umpires reacted in kind.