More On Victorino And Rapuano

I already have a post on this, and while I don't have much more to say, MLB (shockingly, I might add) put up a whole long article and the video of which I originally wanted you to see on this. Again, because of MLB Nazism, I can't embed the video so you'll have to bare with me. Click on this link and hit the large play button in order to watch the video, and I missed this at first, but to all those who disagree with me, Chris Wheeler hits the nail right on the head in this vid.

Rapuano said that after he called a ball on Rodrigo Lopez's 0-2 offering to Marlins third baseman Wes Helms, he saw Victorino waving his arms in disapproval. The umpire then stepped toward the outfield and gestured as a warning.

Then he saw Victorino wave his arms a second time. So without hesitation, Rapuano pointed again at Victorino and this time delivered the ejection signal.

"I gave him the chance to not do it again," said Rapuano, who has 18 1/2 years of Major League service time. "He's right in the line of sight and he's out in front of everybody, waving his arms in disgust of a pitch that I called. It is very simple."

Victorino recalled only gesturing once.

"I've got to hold myself accountable," Victorino said following the Phillies' 12-3 loss. "It's not something that you should be doing, but I've done it 1,000 times this year. It's not the first time -- and I'm not trying to show anybody up. Just things got built up from the half-inning before that, and it's just one of those things I let my emotions get the best of me."

In the bottom of the sixth, with runners on first and third, Ryan Howard was rung up on a close full-count fastball that Marlins starter Josh Johnson called the "pitch of the game." Howard -- and, evidently, some of his teammates -- felt it was low. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel also thought it was a ball, but one too close to take.

Victorino, after some initial confusion about the ejection, sprinted at full speed from center field to the area behind home plate. The 28-year-old waved off Howard and violently shoved catcher Paul Bako to get close to Rapuano before he was eventually restrained by Howard and Bako.

"I was like, 'OK, I might as well get my money's worth, I'm gone,'" Victorino said. "I definitely had no intention of touching [Rapuano] or anything like that."

Chris Wheeler 1, all those who doubt the call 0.

The point, for those who missed it, was why the fuck would be looking in centerfield at the time in the first place? It's because he knew he fucked up the call and was going to be out to get any Phillie who disagreed in an attempt to silence the naysayers (although he did not take into account 3 innings of merciless heckling from the Philly crowd afterwards). The article also goes on to state how Victorino was more hurt than anything that he would get his first career ejection from one of his favorite umpires, Rapuano, and that Charlie Manuel did not agree with the call, although the fact that Manuel did not blantantly argue the call tipped Rapuano off to the idea that Manuel agreed with him, when in fact, according to Manuel, he did not.

The Phillies need to forget about this mess (or use it as motivation, whatever works) and channel the energy for their upcoming series against the Cubs.