DETROIT — Judge for yourself.
That was the response, basically, from Seattle Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon after getting ejected Sunday for a second straight game by umpire Tony Randazzo.
The offense, this time, was a hand wave from McClendon from the bench after Randazzo, at third base, ruled that Detroit’s Alex Avila checked his swing on a full-count pitch by Tom Wilhelmsen in the seventh inning.
“He said I put my hand up,” McClendon said. “That’s a new one.”
Randazzo confirmed McClendon’s view in answering questions from a pool reporter: “(McClendon) took his hand and shooed off my call.”
There was no suggestion from Randazzo nor crew chief Brian Gorman, who was at first base, that McClendon’s gesture was obscene. A hand wave, apparently, was sufficient.
“Gestures,” Gorman said, “are just as powerful as words sometimes.”
The Mariners led 7-0 at the time and went on to win 8-1.
Randazzo was working the plate Saturday when he ejected McClendon in the second inning of Detroit’s 4-2 victory for criticizing ball-and-strike calls from the bench.
McClendon insisted later he didn’t say anything at the time of the ejection but acknowledged several members of the Mariners’ staff and bench had spoken out.
Randazzo answered “no” when asked whether Saturday’s ejection had any impact on Sunday’s incident.
McClendon said: “Really, there’s not a lot to say on that. The incident and what happened speaks for itself. You guys saw it. There’s no sense in me even commenting on it.”
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