WEST SACRAMENTO -- Where were you when Blue Jays manager John Schneider channeled his inner Carlton Fisk during a wild walk out of the ballpark on Sunday in West Sacramento?
The Toronto skipper’s ejection and subsequent tirade after the Sutter Health Park umpiring crew called Davis Schneider's deep fly down the left-field line a foul ball -- then upheld the call on replay -- was one of few signature moments for the Blue Jays in Sunday’s 6-3 loss to the Athletics at Sutter Health Park.
Forced by the ballpark’s lack of a tunnel between the clubhouse and dugout to exit the playing field through a gate in the outfield wall, Schneider trudged off slowly before stopping on the warning track in left-center field and turning around to face home plate. Twice, he waved both arms in the air to his left, clearly signaling “fair ball” -- the same gesture Fisk famously made on what proved to be a walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.
This time, though, the baseball in question wasn’t a homer, despite the Blue Jays’ serious vexation. Davis Schneider said he, his teammates in the dugout and even A’s catcher Austin Wynns thought the fly ball had gone over the foul pole, if not to its right.
“The umpires aren’t trying to get us or anything like that, but I thought it was fair,” the Toronto left fielder said.
No one wearing Toronto powder blue Sunday was happy when third-base umpire Brian Walsh ruled the baseball foul. When the call stood on replay review, John Schneider started up the dugout steps, well aware of what would happen next.
“I know as soon as I walk out of the dugout after review I’m gone,” he said. “Kind of just emotion takes over at that point.”
Ejected almost immediately, the skipper still tried to make his way over to Walsh to argue his point. He never got all that close: Associate manager DeMarlo Hale, third-base coach Carlos Febles and the game’s three other umpires (Tripp Gibson, Ryan Blakney and Junior Valentine) all blocked Schneider’s path.
By that point, Schneider was already into the outfield, standing amid a scrum in shallow left. To exit the field, he didn’t have far to go.
“I think it was kind of smart getting half of the walk done as I was arguing and getting pulled by Carlos and DeMarlo and Tripp a little bit,” he said. “I got the hard part out of the way.”
There might have been a strategic component to what was Schneider’s 10th career ejection, according to Baseball-Reference. The disputed play came with the A’s up 4-0 and lefty starter Jeffrey Springs perfect through 4 2/3 innings.
When Schneider got tossed, his players certainly took notice. Davis Schneider -- still in the box with an 0-1 count -- said his manager’s ejection “kind of pumped me up a little bit.”
“I really appreciate him coming out and having my back there,” he said. “That’s why he’s a great manager. He protects his players.”
As it turned out, John Schneider almost needed protection FROM his players. On the first pitch he saw once play resumed, Davis Schneider crushed a changeup from Springs 439 feet over the wall in left-center, not all that far from where Toronto’s skipper had last been seen.
“I actually saw it [on TV] walking into the clubhouse,” John Schneider said. “It was pretty cool.”
The manager’s theatrics couldn’t completely spark a comeback, though. A’s rookie Nick Kurtz responded with a two-run homer in the fifth to make it a 6-1 game, and the Blue Jays had only three more hits all day. At least one of them -- a 448-foot, two-run homer by Addison Barger in the seventh inning -- looked pretty.
That was little consolation as Toronto, still in first place in the American League East at 55-41, lost a series for the first time since June 20-22. The Blue Jays struck out 33 times over the weekend at Sutter Health Park, their most K’s in a three-game series this season.
“You run into a couple tough games every now and then,” John Schneider said.
Sunday was undeniably one of them, but Schneider -- both Schneiders, really -- sure knew how to liven it up. Even if Toronto’s skipper, for his part, wishes he hadn’t “gone to that point” when it came to his ejection.
“I know I’m not usually that adamant,” John Schneider said. “I’ve got all the respect in the world for umpires.
But …
“From my vantage point, it was clearly fair.”