an umpires tribute

I ripped this article from the online pages of the Atlanta Journal Constitution featuring an interview with umpire Dan Iassogna commenting on Bobby Cox....

this is not Dan Iassogna...

Major League umpire Dan Iassogna on retiring Braves manager Bobby Cox:

“He’s one of the best managers I’ve ever worked with because you know where he stands at all times on the field. You will never be surprised by one of his reactions, ever. The most difficult managers to work with are the guys that pat you on the back, and they’ve got the knife in the other hand. Bobby is not like that. He will protect his players at all times. What a lot of people don’t realize, he gets thrown out of a lot of games, but his players don’t. If you’re having a discussion, a situation with one of his players, he will come out and take the bullet for the guy 100 percent of the time. Bobby doesn’t even let you make the decision. If he feels like his guy is about to get thrown out, he’s going to get thrown out and pull that whole situation onto him and take it off his player.”

“But on the field if he asks you a question, you know exactly what he wants to know. He’s very specific about what he does; that’s why he’s one of the greatest managers of all time. I’ve thrown him out one time. It was a balk call in Montreal. I was going up and down, kind of like a Triple-A player going between Triple-A and the big leagues. John Burkett was pitching. He started and stopped and threw to first and picked off the guy and I called a balk. He yelled from the dugout ‘Go back to Double-A.’ Well, it was ‘Go back to (expletive) Double-A.’ So I ran him. And he came out; we had a little bit of an argument. And then he left. It was the only time I ever ran him, knock on wood. That was in 2001. I had about maybe 200 games in the big leagues. I didn’t get hired on staff (full-time) until 2004. He was very typical Bobby. The hat comes off, goes back on, hat comes off, goes back on. He screamed a little bit, and I yelled at him. But as a young umpire, there are certain managers you don’t feel like you’ve made it to the big leagues until you’ve actually had a situation with him. Throwing Bobby Cox out of a game you know you are absolutely in the big leagues.”

“The nice thing was, the next day was a brand new day with him. After the game, in the tunnel, he’s the friendliest guy you’ve ever met in your life. He’s like your grandfather. He really is. He can’t be any nicer. I think he respects the profession.”

Even the umpires are going to miss Bobby. At least he's not talking about coming back to coach the Mets next year......

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