
And it is not Hirschbeck's job to help Gant with any of these difficulties.
If Gant can't gather his concentration for whatever reason, that just makes
him all the more meat in the batter's box.  The umpire's job is to 
maintain flow of play.  Gant is not entitled to time to regather his
faculties.

Nor is anyone else.


Absolutely.  I think it'd be more accurate to say Gant was foolish.


If a disputed strike call is ample reason for a timeout, games would last
about nine-fifteen weeks, if Jack Morris or Dave "Whiner" Stieb were
pitching.  A disputed strike call is not sufficient for a time out.
Suck it up, get back in the box, and never badmouth the blue.  They're
not going to change their mind, and you're just going to come across
as a pinhead, which won't help you with the borderline calls.

FTR - I never speak to umpires when I don't know them personally, nor
do I glance at them, or react to calls.  As a result, I think I get more
than my fair share of borderline calls at the plate, because I have a
rep of having a good eye.  (Actually, there are a lot of negative
connotations that go with that rep, including copious questions about
my masculinity, party affiliation, and sexual preference.)


Irrelevant.  He was wasting time THEN.


1.  Because it's not his job.

2.  Because setting the precedent of cutting slack THERE can easily 
    extend to those 3 hour games.  (Kind of like the phantom DP.)


Gant hurt himself, and the Braves disrupted the game.  Your biases are
exposed, and I'm sitting here defending umpires and the SF Giants,
which is like Phyllis Schlafly defending Gary Segura, Jack Kevorkian,
and the Swedish Abortion Team.  


I believe Terry said the magic word.  There are some truly quick ways
to get tossed from a ballgame.  For a primer, email me.

Good ways to get tossed from a game:

1.  Ask Ken Kaiser if he got his money back from Nutri-System.
2.  Kiss Rich Garcia on the lips, and say "Hi, Honey, I'm Home!"
3.  Goose Eric Gregg.
4.  Ask Bruce Froemming if his parents had any children that lived.
5.  Get Naked.

(Source: The Greg Spira Book of Diamond Ettiquette, as told to
 Peter Gammons.  1991, Collier Press.)

