MLB suspends Lawrie for four games
Brett Lawrie heard the penalty, then expressed just one regret about his tantrum: that his batting helmet bounced up and hit an umpire.
Major League Baseball suspended Lawrie for four games and fined him an undisclosed amount Wednesday, a day after the Toronto third baseman got into an altercation with umpire Bill Miller.
Lawrie appealed and can play until there is a hearing, which could be held next week via video conference. He said he intended to apologize to Miller for hitting him in the right hip.
“The only thing I would change is maybe not throwing the helmet or any equipment toward the umpire because you can get an unlucky hop and have the kind of mess that’s going on right now,” he said.
The 22-year-old Lawrie received the loudest cheer in pregame introductions as the Jays faced the Yankees and the umpires were booed when their names were posted on the scoreboard.
The trouble began Tuesday night in the ninth inning in a game Toronto lost to Tampa Bay 4-3. Lawrie started toward first base after he thought a 3-1 pitch missed, but Miller called it a strike.
On a full-count pitch that he believed was ball four, Lawrie again headed toward first base. When Miller called strike three, Lawrie momentarily crouched in disbelief. Lawrie dropped his bat, gestured at Miller and shouted, and was ejected.
Lawrie then started toward Miller, wound up with his right arm and slammed down his helmet. It bounced at the umpire’s feet and ricocheted up into him.
As Miller walked off the field, he was hit in the shoulder by a drink thrown by a fan.
Clearing the bases
The Phillies placed Vance Worley on the 15-day disabled list, adding a starting pitcher to their mounting list of missing players. Worley, 3-2 with a 3.07 ERA, was sidelined by right elbow inflammation and was scheduled for an MRI exam. … Indians right-hander Josh Tomlin is scheduled for a second MRI exam on his injured right wrist. “We’re still not sure what it is, how it happened, and when it will clear up,” he said. … Kevin Hickey, who pitched in six major league seasons with the White Sox and the Orioles before taking a coaching job with Chicago, has died. He was 56. The team said Hickey died in a Chicago hospital. A cause of death was not disclosed.