Top Baseball Manager Meltdowns
It takes a special kind of person to be a manager in Major League Baseball.
It's a high-pressure job with a high turnover rate as every team looks to bring a World Series championship to their city.
Anyone that has watched or played any sport knows that one bad call from an official can send the slighted team into a frenzy.
In baseball, it could be something as small as an umpire calling a tight strike zone that gets a manager's blood to boil.
Pirates fans may remember McClendon being ejected during a game in 2001 against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park.
In that instance, McClendon came out to argue a play at first base. After losing the argument and being ejected, he ripped first base out of the ground, walked to the dugout and threw it down the runway.
A grounds crew member eventually came out to install a new base and was subsequently booed in a mocking fashion by fans.
McClendon was also ejected in spectacular fashion earlier this week as the manager of the Seattle Mariners.
This got us thinking about some other classic managerial meltdowns. Here's some of our favorites:
Terry Francona
Terry Francona took what home plate umpire Jeff Kellogg gave him and sent it right back during a game in 2010.
Francona was clearly upset by a call and was swiftly ejected. However, Francona didn't even blink and proceeded to throw Kellogg out of the game!
While the rules don't allow for managers to eject umpires, we applaud Francona's effort.
Joe Maddon
During a game in 2011, Rays manager Joe Maddon was sent to the showers early after a call on the field was reversed.
Perhaps inspired by Francona, Maddon elected to point at all of the umpires on the field and eject them one by one.
Lou Piniella
Lou Piniella was ejected just a few times in his career, but the first time as the manager of the Chicago Cubs was pretty special.
In a 2007 game against the Atlanta Braves, a close play at third set Piniella off.
He came charging out of the dugout and got right in the face of the umpire. Within seconds, Lou throws his hat to the ground and was ejected. Did he stop there? Of course not!
Lou started kicking dirt on the umpire's shoes and punted his own hat across the diamond.
By the way, a YouTube search of "Lou Piniella ejections" should kill some time the next time you're bored.
Tommy Lasorda
Tommy Lasorda attacked the Philly Phanatic during a game on Aug. 28, 1988.
Philadelphia's mascot came out with a mannequin of Lasorda and began to mock the Dodgers' manager.
Lasorda hijacked the Phanatic's ATV and then chased him down along the third base line. With the Phanatic covering up on the ground, Lasorda stole the mannequin away and walked back to the dugout.
If this was supposed to be all in fun, Lasorda sure didn't seem amused.
Lasorda is another one with a decent number of ejections on YouTube.
Hal McRae
Hal McRae absolutely lost his mind after a loss to the Detroit Tigers in 1993. During a post-game interview in his office, McRae blew a gasket when asked why he didn't bring in a pinch hitter in a key situation.
The profanity-laced tirade ended with one reporter sustaining a cut to the face when he was hit by one of the many objects McRae sent into orbit.
Phil Wellman
In 2007, Phil Wellman was the manager of the Mississippi Braves. There have been plenty of wacky things to come out of the minors, but Wellman may have topped them all.
Wellman was ejected in the dugout for arguing balls and strikes.
He raced to home plate and started yelling at the umpire. Then, he covered home plate in dirt and used his finger to draw a new home plate. We can only assume he was illustrating how big he felt the strike zone was that evening.
Next, Wellman made his way to third base, which he picked up and pitched into the outfield. As he made his way to second base he looked back at home plate and took the meltdown to an entirely new level.
Wellman dropped to the ground and Army crawled up to the mound, grabbed the rosin bag and flung it over his head like a grenade. The bag landed at the feet of the home plate umpire.
Then, Wellman swiped second base, picked up the discarded third base and walked off the field through the outfield exit. Before making his exit, he turned back to the crowd and took a bow.
Wellman discussed the incident on the fifth anniversary. You can read that article here.
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