Real fans of the game know trivia and records. Only real fans will care about this blog because they will know that players and managers can be thrown out of a baseball game for arguing excessively or wrongly with umpires. Generally there are a few select words that a player or manager will use in the presence of an umpire and then they are “Gone.” Certain decisions cannot even be contested, at least legitimately. One is the umpire’s call of balls and strikes. This rule is bent now and then but woe to the one who “shows up” an umpire in front of thousands of fans. When an umpire ejects a player or manager there is a huge gesture made by the umpire by which he says, “You’re out of here!”
I say all of this because the Braves manager Bobby Cox, my favorite manager I admit, has recently set the all-time record for the most ejections from a baseball game of any player or manager ever. He was ejected for the 131st time last Saturday as the Braves lost a frustrating 2-1 game to the Tigers. As has been the case most of the time Bobby Cox was ejected because he was defending one of his players, who had just been tossed out himself. He almost always get tossed because a player was thrown out or he intends to keep a player from getting thrown out of a game. He is an equal opportunity offender when it comes to picking his battles.
You have to understand something to truly appreciate this record. When a manager gets tossed it is often for an ulterior reason. On top of this reason it is pure show, part of the entertainment value of the game. Mangers will pitch a fit and the crowd gets into it big time. When I was in Atlanta several weeks ago I saw two Braves games. Cox was ejected in both of them. The crowd loved it and chanted, “Bobby, Bobby, Bobby” for several minutes. It was a load of fun.
I sure wish more of us could celebrate getting ejected, or even dejected, more often than we do. Maybe there is a lesson here. I have been ejected a few times. (I was once warned by a basketball official while I was sitting on the end of the bench in high school!) Cox is one of the best, and most successful, managers of all-time. His players love him and respect him. I think there is a lesson here. The next time I get hassled I am going to just get “tossed” and then see what happens. Managers do it and it sometimes works. Maybe I can learn something valuable when I am tossed by someone who wants me “out of the game.” How about you? Just make sure you get tossed for a good reason, like defending and standing up for a real friend, and then get your money’s worth on the way out, as they say in baseball.
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Great post, John. I love a good show by a manager. We had Billy Martin (A’s) here in the early 80’s with some great ones, and Frank Robinson (Giants) was fun to watch, too. Congratulations to Bobby Cox.
Armstrong writes,
“I sure wish more of us could celebrate getting ejected, or even dejected, more often than we do. Maybe there is a lesson here. I have been ejected a few times. (I was once warned by a basketball official while I was sitting on the end of the bench in high school!)”
And this honors Jesus Christ, HOW?
And an unbelieving, dying, skeptical, non-Christian world is supposed to see Christ in our “humble” manner of being obnoxious, loud, and getting kicked out of a game? HOW?
How in the world does this honor Jesus Christ? How does this bring glory to Jesus?
I, for one, know NO sports trivia and cannot be considered a true “fan”. (I recently sat next to Don Shula on a flight to Florida. I had no idea who he was. I mistook his Superbowl ring for a Texas A&M college ring. They are similar in size and gaudiness. But he’s a great guy, as I came to find out,) But I CAN appreciate someone standing up for his players. That’s cool.
ColtsFan,
You should lighten up a bit and not read my every word with such a literal hermeneutic. I am not promoting bad behavior but the fun of this great game and the credit to Cox for standing up for his players which is a virtue that is widely appreciated by inside baseball people for very good reason. My sole point was that I am willing to get “tossed” by people to defend my friends when it is right to do so. To read more than this is to read into my words, not to read out of them what is really there.
Armstrong writes,
“You should lighten up a bit and not read my every word with such a literal hermeneutic.”
I will be extremely careful next time, especially when I hear you talking about “lesson” (used twice by you in the article) and using the phrase “learning something valuable.”
Those of us who are sports fans often get tired of explaining to our nephews that getting ejected and “tossed” dishonors Christ.
And this honors Jesus Christ, HOW?
And an unbelieving, dying, skeptical, non-Christian world is supposed to see Christ in our “humble” manner of being obnoxious, loud, and getting kicked out of a game? HOW?
How in the world does this honor Jesus Christ? How does this bring glory to Jesus?
This guy has way too much religion in him.
Do you think they (the world) actually cares how you behave at a game. Try working on real life first- thats what they are really watching.
Wait — I think I hear it coming. I just offended the religion ump …
Jim- you are outta here
This is really quite amusing to me. I comment on a part of the sport of baseball that is pure fun on the level of fans. On another level Cox’s actions demonstrate that this great baseball manager is committed to protecting his players when they are under fire, an actual positive character trait widely respected, thus one I used to make a single, simple point. Then you guys read this as some kind of grave moral lesson in which I praised rudeness and bad language, etc. (Cox is not a Christian, by what I know, so that was never the point!)
Has humor and subtlety no place in your life and thought? Life is tough enough without it. Be serious about really serious things and enjoy the rest of life to the full or you will find life, and people, hard to live with. The church needs your humanness not just your seriousness. Being sober and alert to the evil one does not not stand in stark opposition to fun and a great deal of entertainment.
Armstrong writes,
“This is really quite amusing to me.”
Look, brother (brother in Christ), I raised what I thought was a legitimate question based on my human perceptions, and you have already answered the question in the manner that you did. Case closed. End of discussion.
By the way, many good things can be said about your work and your character. But 2 things have really encouraged me in Christ in the past from your writings on the delicate subject of your own physical health condition:
a.) I have found your past reference to that sensitive subject “refreshing”, and “profoundly biblical,” as I myself continually learn to deal with my own worsening physical condition.
b.) I found your reference encouraging also because it has not stopped you from producing an impressive heavy work load of writing, speaking, scholarship, ministry-minded progress, mentoring others, discipleship, etc. Your book on the 4 Great Evangelists (I think–I don’t have book in front of me) is a classic.
More power to ya.
Your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Colts Fan,
Forgive me if I responded with way too much irony and directness. You have not taken offense and that is to your credit far more than to my own. I am truly humbled that these blog notes have helped you so much, and frankly amazed to be really truthful.
I have prayed that you will know much grace in your own trials even as I wrote these words this afternoon.
As for the baseball blo on Cox I do these things for fun. I am a hopeless fan and have readers who know this and like to see it as a mark of my human side. Others do not care for it that much and sometimes may miss my “fun” side on these things. (Sounds like you are a fan of some kind with the name “Colts Fan.”) I am not an advocate of Bobby Cox’s behavior as he does not display the fruit of the Spirit, at least from what I have seen. (His speech is quite plain but too often profane.) He is, however, a great baseball manager. That was my main point about him.
Again, forgive me for my brutal directness but please know that I appreciate so much your reply.