Emotions run hot at end of frustrating week
Hours after Foster Griffin became the latest to be traded, Blake Butera was ejected for the first time and the Nationals bullpen blew another lead
PHILADELPHIA – There was no ulterior motive to the first ejection of Blake Butera’s MLB managing career. He wasn’t trying to fire up his players. He wasn’t stewing over something from earlier in the game that carried over into his seventh-inning argument with plate umpire Manny Gonzalez.
“It wasn’t like any … it was just heat of the moment,” he insisted afterward. “I just wanted to try to do what’s best for our team.”
Maybe Butera really was just upset about the way Gonzalez was telling the Nationals dugout to calm down after an unpopular call at third base that didn’t go their way. He clearly let Gonzalez know he didn’t appreciate that tactic.
“I think the dugout just didn’t agree with the call,” he said. “I had my back to it, and when I turned around ... those guys want to win. They were fired up. I just wanted to get in the middle of that and stop anything.”
