You're Outta Here!

In light of recent developments with A-Roid, I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about something a little more wholesome: ejections! No, not injections. Ejections. Some boys dream about playing professional baseball. Others dream about getting into bench-clearing brawls. I ask you: can't it be both? This one was fun to research. Retrosheet could be easier to navigate, but I'll take substance over style any day.

The ejections that stand out to me are Buddy Myer's and Gabe Kapler's. You'll recall that brawl in Boston with the Yankees (who else?) in '04. Not quite as entertaining as Pedro Martinez and Don Zimmer doing battle the year before, but Kapler and Co. really put a hurting on Tanyon Sturtze. After Sturtze jumped Kapler from behind and started choking him, David Ortiz and Trot Nixon rose to his defense. Kevin Millar said, "I don't know what Sturtze was thinking, because he had the wrong guys with Nixon and Kapler." Truer words were never spoken.

Myer's epic ejection in 1933 is the stuff of legends. It happened when Myer took umbrage to Ben Chapman spiking him at second base while Myer was pivoting on a double-play. Myer responded by kicking Chapman square in the derriere. What followed was a melee of Peter Griffin-Giant Chicken proportions. No exaggeration. The Myer-Chapman fight spread to the dugouts and even the stands. Incidentally, Chapman was on the Yankees. Boy, they really can't catch a break!

Chapman was notoriously anti-Semitic and was unceremoniously traded to the Washington Senators in 1936, which meant that Myer and Chapman were actually teammates. Awwwkward! Chapman, being the good chap that he was, also had a confrontation with Jackie Robinson in 1947. But it doesn't end there. The guy Chapman was traded for, Jake Powell, is best remembered for being racist and his intentional collision with Hank Greenberg in 1936, causing Greenberg's wrist to be broken and sidelining him after just 12 games.

And now, without further ado... seems like some of these guys have/had a real predilection for ejections.

Players:

1. Brad Ausmus - 10
2. Buddy Myer - 6
3. Saul Rogovin - 4
3. Harry Danning - 4
3. Al Rosen - 4
4. Jose Bautista - 3
5. Hank Greenberg - 2
5. Mike Epstein - 2
5. Goody Rosen - 2
5. Phil Weintraub - 2
6. Ken Holtzman - 1
6. Ian Kinsler - 1
6. Scott Radinsky - 1
6. Gabe Kapler - 1

6. Scott Feldman - 1

6. Harry Eisenstat - 1

6. Joe Ginsberg - 1

6. Kevin Youkilis - 1
6. Larry Sherry - 1
6. Jimmie Reese - 1
6. Morrie Arnovich - 1
6. Shawn Green - 1

Managers:
Bob Melvin - 19

Lou Boudreau - 15

Larry Rothschild - 15