If you weren't watching the fifth inning of the Cubs-Dodgers game yesterday -- a 5-1 Dodgers win -- you missed that starting pitcher Ted Lilly was ejected from the dugout by home plate umpire Tim Timmons. He wasn't pitching, either, as Chris Capuano was the Dodgers' starter on Saturday. While it's rare for a bench player to be ejected, it's not unheard of. Still, this one caught my eye.

Here is Lilly's side of the story, via latimes.com:
After one pitch to Abreu, "I said [to Timmons], 'The ball's low,'" Lilly said. "Then [Timmons] looked over at me and asked me to be quiet with a hand gesture," which Lilly repeated for reporters by pressing a finger against his lips.

"So I was quiet," Lilly continued, except Lilly then used a hand gesture of his own to signal to Timmons that he still thought the pitch was low.
And that was it. For saying a pitch was low and then holding his hand low, Lilly was tossed. At least according to his side of the story. We unfortunately don't know the umpire's side of the story, because the umpires don't say anything publicly, for the most part.

I understand that umpires have a relatively thankless job, but it's a bit petty to eject someone for this -- again, if Lilly is telling the truth. As a former high school football official, I know the whining is incredibly annoying and it's gotta be amplified a billion times over in the pros, but Timmons would have been best served to just ignore something as minor as "that ball's low." Also, shushing another adult is pretty condescening and certainly asking for some sort of response. As a game official, there's no reason to make yourself the center of attention out there like that.

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