Before the top half of the first inning was even close to finished, there was a feeling at the Stadium that this was more than just the Tigers versus the Yankees.
Home plate umpire Angel Hernandez wanted in, too.
After ringing up Ivan Rodriguez for the second out of the game, Hernandez tossed the Tigers’ No. 3 hitter for continuing a tantrum in the dugout.
“The pitch was low and he kicked me out,” Rodriguez said. “He told my manager that I was laughing in the dugout. You’re not allowed to laugh? Anybody can laugh. I was very disappointed with the call. It was on national TV, in New York City. I thought it was a bad call.”
When Tigers manager Alan Trammell came out to argue on his All-Star’s behalf, Hernandez tossed him, too. In Hernandez’s defense, Trammell was begging for the ejection.
“I thought it was a questionable call,” Trammell said. “To run someone out in the first inning, I thought it was a little quick. Sometimes umpires just gotta look the other way.”
Crew chief Larry Young defended his home plate umpire, saying Rodriguez mouthed off a bit too much.
“[He threw him out] and he still persisted in arguing,” Young said. “Our job is to keep order on the field. He should’ve stopped arguing. I know he’s an All-Star . . . we have a job to do.”
It wasn’t a case of home cooking, either. A couple of Yankees also looked backward in disbelief at some of Hernandez’s strike calls.
In the fourth, Bernie Williams was given strike three after a very peculiar chain of events. Williams held up his left hand to call time, and catcher Mike DiFelice (who came in for Rodriguez) held up both hands to stop pitcher Jeremy Bonderman from throwing. Bonderman didn’t see the stop sign and threw what Hernandez called strike three.
Williams walked away but turned and started yapping at Hernandez. Joe Torre then came out of the dugout to talk with Hernandez.
In the seventh, Kenny Lofton had a gripe of his own. Hernandez called strike two on a check swing, which led to a prolonged barking session from Lofton. He struck out swinging.
“I just told him that I didn’t go around,” Lofton said. “I just leaned in a little. I just had my say.”
John Flaherty may have summed Hernandez’s day up best, saying, “Angel always likes to get involved.”
