Roy Oswalt can sleep a little easier this week knowing that his wallet won’t be lighter following his ejection during a game against the Nationals on Monday night. According to the Houston Chronicle, the Astros’ ace won’t face further disciplinary action.
“I felt that Roy Oswalt had been punished enough by his ejection (and) the Astros had been punished enough by his ejection,” said Major League Baseball vice president Bob Watson, who is in charge of discipline for the league. “That’s the bottom line.”
Home plate umpire Bill Hohn ejected Oswalt in the third inning Monday after a brief exchange with the pitcher.
Oswalt said he was expressing frustration after a throwing a ball, but Hohn, who has not commented on the situation, clearly believed otherwise. The two then exchanged words, with Oswalt saying he told Hohn “I’m not talking to you,” before getting tossed.
“I was hoping I wasn’t going to get fined for saying what I said,” Oswalt said. “I thought it was kind of quick on his part. Nothing I did towards him (warranted being) tossed out of the game.
“To be talking to myself on the mound and to get thrown out, I didn’t see the point of that.”
Assuming Oswalt wasn’t jawing with Hohn the entire night leading up to his ejection, Hohn comes off looking like just another power-hungry umpire. Some guys feel a sense of empowerment each night when they umpire a game and overreact when they feel a player has shown them up.
That said, umpires don’t have it easy. They get it from players, managers and fans on a nightly basis and I don’t blame them if they want to flex some of their power in order to get a situation under control. Still, it sounds as though Hohn overacted to what Oswalt said and it’s good to see that the pitcher won’t face any further punishment.
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