Joe Girardi should be commended, not criticized for standing up to awful umpiring

Joe Girardi should be commended for standing up for his Phillies team amidst horrible umpiring

ICYMI, Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi got himself ejected from Tuesday night’s game against the Seattle Mariners.

It took less than two full innings of horrendous umpiring for the skipper to boil over, though this isn’t the first time this year that a bad call has enraged this squad.

Girardi’s 43rd ejection puts him just behind a former Phillies manager, Terry Francona on the all-time list, though the current skipper gets tossed far more frequently. Girardi has been ejected from 2.11% of his 2,034 career games as an MLB manager; Francona has only been ejected from 1.32% of his 3,328 games.

Getting tossed from games doesn’t exactly help Girardi keep his job, nor does the fact that the Phillies hit better once he was gone. 2021 AL Cy Young Robbie Ray no-hit the Phillies until Nick Castellanos’ solo home run in the fifth inning.

However, Girardi should be commended for standing up for his players, especially considering how utterly power-drunk umpires have been this season. Phillies fans often criticize Girardi for not defending his team or showing enough emotion when outrageous things happen, but it’s worth noting that he’s gotten himself thrown out at a higher rate here than in the Bronx. He’s been ejected seven times in 123 Phillies games (5.69%), compared to 34 ejections in 910 games (3.73%) as the Yankees manager.

Girardi gets criticized for pretty much everything he does or doesn’t do at the helm: bullpen management, lineup choices, how he handles younger stars like Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott, to name just a few grievances. But in this case, props to him for trying to take an umpire down a peg.

Someone has to.