Dodgers Video: A.J. Ellis Frustrated Over Ejection, Provides Details
It wasn’t a postseason game Friday, but it was the first time the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals met since Game 4 of the 2014 National League Division Series. Both clubs entered play leading their respective divisions and holding the top two records in the NL.
By the end of the night, the Dodgers were again left frustrated at Busch Stadium and out of first place in the NL West for the first time since April 15. Along the way there were moments of opportunity, stranded runners and two ejections. The first was Dodgers manager Don Mattingly getting tossed due to arguing balls and strikes after Andre Ethier struck out in the seventh inning.
Then in the home half of the inning, A.J. Ellis was ejected, also for arguing balls and strikes. Ellis, other Dodgers and Cardinals starter John Lackey all took issue at one point with home plate umpire Mike Winters. The pitch in question was called ball four from J.P. Howell to Matt Carpenter, which via DodgersUmp on Twitter, appears to have been a strike:
Call hurts #Dodgers
Ball 4 should be strike 2
Bot 7 Howell vs Carpenter
18% call same
2.6in from edge pic.twitter.com/Bviwwv9uY1
— Dodgers Strike Zone (@DodgersUmp) May 30, 2015
Following the Dodgers’ 3-0 loss — their fourth shutout in 10 games — Ellis elaborated on the exchange with Winters, via J.P. Hoornstra of the LA Daily News:
He said, ‘the presentation was poor.’ I said the presentation doesn’t matter. He said ‘the presentation was poor.’ He just repeated himself. That’s what did it.”
As Ellis tells it, Winters’ comments would suggest he was critical of the catcher’s framing ability, which Ellis took offense to:
There are people on blogs and websites who can critique my framing, but I’m not going to take that from an umpire because it’s not their job to do that. Their job is to call balls and strikes based on what comes through the strike zone.”
More of Ellis’ comments can be viewed in the video below, uploaded to YouTube by Hoornstra:
With Yasmani Grandal on the seven-day concussion disabled list, Ellis started five of the last six games. He went 0-for-3 Friday with three strikeouts, including two looking.
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This umpire has a history of douchebaggery, sit his ass down or get him out! There are plenty of competent umpires that are willing to call the game without critique and bias.
Ellis can’t hit but he can’t catch and he’s slow too. He should try beach volley ball.
What do your comments have to do with this article? An umpire’s job is to call balls and strikes regardless of where he sets up his glove. And regardless of whether you think he can hit and is too slow. Sounds like you posted just to be nasty.
You’re right. I’m wrong. Ellis as bad as he is doesn’t deserve this crapola from a miserable, hillbilly ump whose been reading too many Yasmani Grandal is a great framer articles. Nor from me. I was just down after the latest team failure to hit. Ellis is actually a cool dude and in my estimation really would be a good beach volley ball player like Matt (Misty May) Treanor is. I can see them both killing it at the Strand in Manhattan Beach.
Ok