Last Saturday night, the 36,868 fans who bought tickets to the Red Sox game against the Los Angeles Angels were treated to a sight that has become all too uncommon in Major League Baseball since this politically correct country developed an aversion to conflict or incivility of any kind.  

After a balk was called on Fernando Abad, the Red Sox reliever of questionable ability, allowing the Angels Cameron Maybin to score from third base with the Angels’ fifth run of the game, giving them a 5-1 lead, in a game they eventually won 6-4, Red Sox manager John Farrell got into a screaming match with the umpiring crew chief Ryan Blakney.

Farrell, who in my opinion, is rarely right, was right in this case. The Angels’ batter at the time, Klay Calhoun, had asked for and been granted time out before the balk was committed or called. Farrell and Blakney were nose to nose, screaming at each other in the best tradition of Lou Piniella, Earl Weaver, Billy Martin and all those managers who fought hard for what they thought was right for their teams and players.

Of course, Farrell was ejected, but not before he actually poked Blakney in the chest with his finger. Can you imagine the trauma experienced by those viewers both in the park and watching at home on television or some other electronic device when they actually saw such brutality? Those television viewers, subjected to seeing it again on replay, were even more traumatized.

Just the night before, Xander Bogaerts was on first base, with one out, in the fifth inning, with the Sox ahead of Los Angeles 5-1, and Mitch Moreland hit a grounder to second baseman Cliff Pennington. Pennington threw to shortstop Andrelton Simmons trying to force Bogaerts at second before going to first for the double play. Bogaerts slid into second and his legs went a short distance beyond the bag causing incidental contact with Simmons who did not throw to first.

Bogaerts’ slide was completely legal within the rules, he did not change his direction to go after the fielder, maintained contact with the bag and did not roll into the fielder. The umpire called the slide illegal anyway and called Moreland out at first. The Sox appealed and the genius who reviewed the play at the replay center in New York upheld the call. There was no argument about this ridiculous call as the replay rule forbids it.  

The Red Sox and Orioles got into a battle over a call on a similar play when Pedroia was taken out at second base by Manny Machado earlier in the season.  The commissioner’s office got involved instead of allowing the players to police the situation, which they did, in spite of the Commissioner’s action. Now every time a batter gets hit with a pitch no matter the situation in the game at the time, I expect to see an umpire running out from behind the plate and warning each bench as if there was a bomb in the dugout.  

I don’t know about anybody else, but I think baseball needs to worry less about the time it takes to play a baseball game and more about the fact that certain rule changes, notably restrictions on arguing now that we have been “blessed” with instant replay, restrictions on take out slides at second base and collisions at home plate, are taking much of the excitement out of the game. Now, with talk of the possibility of adding a mechanical ball and strike umpire, we are getting closer and closer to making a baseball game a ho hum event.

People go to a baseball game for the excitement and competition of the game.  I agree that games are too long but that is an argument for a different place and time. If baseball continues to make itself more politically correct by taking the conflict out of the game, attendance will really decline.

Of course, that segment of our society that sees no problems that their kids are subjected to over the top violence in their video games and movies would be happy if all 30 Major League teams got a participation trophy and players  got cheered for striking out and making errors instead of recognizing their failures with boos. 

Major League Baseball, as I have said many times before, is a highly competitive game played by superbly trained and conditioned athletes and injuries and emotions are part of the game, like it or not. All the rule changes in the world cannot change that fact.

Neither can rule changes alter the fact that the game is played by human beings, umpired by human beings and managed by human beings, none of whom are infallible. As with people in every walk of life and in every activity, umpires make mistakes, players get injured, emotions cause people to react and sometimes over react. These are facts of life and for over 100 years they contributed to making baseball exciting and drawing fans to the games.   

It is a game and, like all games, the object is to win and any time there is a winner there will be a loser. It is also a business and the winners get recognition and more of the revenue pie than the losers. Every play in the 162 game season can have a dramatic effect upon an individual player, a team, a franchise or a city.       

I, for one, enjoyed watching Farrell fight for his team, watching Bogaerts try his best to prevent the double play within the rules and even enjoyed watching what happened after Sale threw behind Machado. All those things are part of why baseball is America’s Pastime.

Kinder and gentler and politically correct does not cut it in this arena and, as Leo Durocher once said, “Nice guys finish last.”