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MLB

Umpire's Comment Has Jeter Stunned

Posted Jul 06, 2009 6:01PM By Ed Price (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Yankees, MLB Umpires

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Derek Jeter New York Yankees Scott Rolen Toronto Blue JaysNEW YORK - What could make Derek Jeter lose his cool?

We found out Monday.

After being caught stealing third base in the first inning of Monday's game at Yankee Stadium, Jeter yelled to umpire Marty Foster: "He didn't tag me."

According to Jeter, Foster replied, "He didn't have to tag you. The ball beat you."

That caused Jeter - who may debate a called strike on occasion but perhaps never before so visibly confronted an umpire - to turn around and tell Foster, "I was unaware of that rule change."

(Foster declined to be interviewed, asking crew chief John Hirschbeck to address the media instead, which is common procedure with umpires.)

Jeter's stunning display of disagreement caused Yankees manager Joe Girardi to come out of the dugout and argue. Girardi later said he didn't "care for the explanation" he got from Foster – presumably the same ball-beat-you, old-school tenet – and earned his third ejection of the season.

The throw from Blue Jays catcher Rod Barajas did indeed beat Jeter, by a good margin. But replays showed Jeter moved his arms on his headfirst slide to avoid Scott Rolen's tag and should have been called safe.

Ah, those replays.

Hirschbeck said with so much attention on the game, and so many camera angles, that "the ball beat him there" no longer suffices.

"It used to be, if the ball beat you, you're out," Hirschbeck said. "And it's really not like that any more. Now you have to make a good tag. You just can't take the glove and lay it down in front of the bag.

"It's not a reason to call someone out, because the ball beat you. It used to be that way. That is true. But it's not like that any more."

Foster, 45, has 10 years of service as a big-league umpire.

Hirschbeck said he could not comment on the Foster-Jeter interchange because he had not spoken to Foster about it.

"I will," Hirschbeck said. "Not here at the ballpark.

"Getting a play right is one thing, but how you handle it and things you say are equally important."

But watching events unfold from over at first base, Hirschbeck was just as taken aback as everyone else to see the Yankee captain do a U-turn to talk to an umpire.

"In my 27 years in the big leagues," Hirschbeck said, "he might be the classiest person I've ever been around in a uniform."

"I do think, like, 'Wow that's unusual.' "

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Tags: derek+jeter, John+Hirschbeck, Marty+Foster

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