Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura is the latest to show his displeasure with MLB’s new rule that aims to prevent collisions at home plate.
The White Sox had a 1-0 lead over the Giants in the bottom of the seventh inning when they threw out Gregor Blanco at home plate to keep their narrow lead intact. However, Giants manager Bruce Bochy came out to argue that Chicago catcher Tyler Flowers blocked Bochy’s path to home plate, which has been ruled illegal by MLB in an effort to avoid collisions.
Plays that involve the new collision rule are reviewed by a central viewing office in New York, who ruled that Flowers used his left leg to block the plate, resulting in the call being overturned to safe. That set off Ventura, who was ejected from the game almost immediately after he came out to argue the reversed call. Ventura got his money’s worth after being tossed, repeatedly kicking dirt across home plate and cursing at the head umpire. Ventura had reason to be angry, as he challenged a similar play the night before in the White Sox’s 3-2 win, which was not overturned. Though his anger was justified, Ventura was barking up the wrong tree, as the actual umpires did not make the decision to overrule the initial call.