Kicker - Luxury box ejection

NICK EICHER, HOST: We have seen quite a few first-evers in this year’s Major League Baseball season. Take the DH, for example, the designated hitter rule in the National League. That’s a first.

Here’s another. This came during a Washington Nationals game against the Braves in Atlanta: 

Home plate umpire Joe West ejected the Nationals’ general manager. That’s never happened before. Never to a GM. He’s the guy who makes trades and signs team contracts. And he was standing in a luxury box above left field, nowhere near the home plate ump.

AUDIO: You’re out. We’ll wait for you.
Wow, somebody’s getting kicked out. Somebody in the upper deck.
Call security.

Nats GM Mike Rizzo had been barking complaints all game long. And normally, umpires would never be able to hear the GM arguing balls and strikes. But with no fans in the stands, his gripes echoed all the way across the baseball diamond. And finally, Joe West had heard enough. 

After the game, West said of Rizzo: “I wouldn’t take that from a player. I wouldn’t take that from a manager. If it was Donald Trump, I’d eject him, too. But I’d still vote for him.”

It’s The World and Everything in It.

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo looks on during the seventh inning in the continuation of a suspended baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Nationals, Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, in Baltimore. 

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.