FanHouse BrianRunge

It's a tough day to be Jerry Manuel. The Met manager expressed his hope that umpire Brian Runge would escape punishment for bumping him during their argument on Tuesday night. His wish will go unfulfilled, however, as MLB suspended Runge for one game this afternoon.

The news gets worse for Manuel. He and Carlos Beltran were each fined an undisclosed amount for their actions on the field. Unless the fine is a one-way Metrocard for the subway, it's too much. Runge was the only one wrong on Tuesday night and should have been the only one punished. Manuel and Beltran merely reacted to his onslaught by voicing their displeasure. David Pinto of Baseball Musings proposed a five-year ban on postseason work for Runge, I proffered a five-game vacation but anywhere in the middle would be just fine. One game though? There's no way Manuel would have gotten off with a slap on the wrist like that.

I'm really looking forward to the next time a player or manager bumps an umpire. I'm sure they'll get the same one-game suspension that Runge received, with no fine by the way, while the umpire gets fined for standing there and getting mistreated. If that doesn't happen, I hope the MLBPA or managers as a group raise a massive amount of hell over the double standard.

When Jerry Manuel took the lineup card out to home plate before last night's game with the Mariners a familiar face was there to greet him. Brian Runge, the umpire who tossed Manuel and Carlos Beltran from the previous contest, stuck his hand out and Manuel accepted it. Runge also apologized for bumping Manuel during the argument that preceded the ejections.

Manuel said before the game that such an apology would be enough for him to put the incident in the past.

Manuel had said he was "not hoping that (Runge) does get disciplined. I think for me, maybe just a personal apology would be enough for me. I think that would be plenty enough for me. I don't hope to see anyone get suspended and all that kind of stuff."

I don't agree with Manuel. Watch the video again and then ask yourself, if the two sides had acted differently would there be any doubt about a suspension? No way. Manuel would be fined and suspended by Major League Baseball for making contact with an umpire. The same standard should hold to Runge who escalated the situation well beyond a simple argument about balls and strikes.

It's not like there's no precedent. Mike Winters was suspended for the argument that led to Milton Bradley's season-ending injury last year and that was for verbal, not physical, reasons. Winters was relieved of duty for five games, the same seems reasonable for Runge.

One of the main frustrations Met fans had with former manager Willie Randolph was his "lack of fire", certainly during those times where players could have used some protection during arguments with umpires. New manager Jerry Manuel changed that by going out to protect Carlos Beltran after he argued a strike call, after which Runge made it a point to extend the argument by taking his mask off and extending the argument. Manuel went out to protect his star because he felt he was baited. Manuel was then bumped by Runge (yes, the manager was bumped by the umpire) and then was run. That's where the video picks up as Manuel flips a lid at Runge. Moments later Beltran, who had the audacity to call Runge's move "weak", was run as well.

No, you're not supposed to argue balls and strikes. But players do it mildly and are shown a little leeway. Beltran however, was confronted by Runge, and there was no call for Runge bumping the manager. Kudos to Manuel for protecting his player. Unfortunately for the Mets, it didn't work ... they lost 11-0 to the Mariners, who have the worst record in baseball.

I poked a bit of at Milton Bradley after he got hurt while being pulled away from arguing with an umpire, but it seems like at least this time his anger at first-base umpire Mike Winters may have been justified, at least if you believe first-base coach Bobby Meacham. From MLB.com (via Gaslamp Ball):

"Everyone is going to make a twist that Milton Bradley blew up again," Meacham said. "This kid [Bradley] is doing a great job holding it together. He's not going to get thrown out because he knows his team needs him. But there's no possible way a man is going to stand there and take what [Winters] said to Milton.

"In 26 years of baseball, I couldn't believe my ears the way that he spoke to Milton. [It] was so disrespectful, so angry, so vindictive. The boiling point is when he called Milton a name. Milton did not saying anything to him to get him to do that."

Basically, the whole incident started earlier in the game when Bradley flipped his bat after striking out. Winters apparently told home plate umpire Brian Runge that Bradley flipped the bat in the direction of Runge, which prompted Runge to ask Bradley about it the next time Bradley came up to bat. Bradley denied it, and upon reaching first base on a single he asked Winters between pitches about what he said to Runge.