Umpire doesn't find Martin very funny
New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi, left, talks to catcher Russell Martin in the dugout during the second inning. (Sept. 26, 2011) Credit: AP
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Three previous times in his career, Russell Martin had been ejected. For the most part, he felt he deserved each one.
Monday night's?
Not so much.
"I got thrown out,'' Martin said, "for having a sense of humor."
The strangest sequence of the Yankees' 5-2 loss to the Rays came with two outs in the fifth after Phil Hughes walked Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist back to back. As Johnny Damon came up, plate umpire Paul Schrieber stepped in front of Martin, still crouched, and engaged the catcher in a discussion.
Martin relayed the conversation this way: "I asked him, did you stretch before the game? Because I feel like you're kind of tight right now."
Schrieber responded by tossing Martin, who then argued -- as did an at-times-animated Joe Girardi -- with a perplexed and bemused look on his face more than anything.
"I didn't say it in a way that was condescending, I was just trying to loosen things up a little bit because he didn't look like he was having a good time," Martin said. "I didn't say he ---- , I didn't say he was the worst umpire in the league, I didn't say any of that stuff. I just made a joke and then he threw me out. No warning, nothing. Just gone."
More Yankees headlines
