Tony LaRussa fined for on-air comments during game
A. Isaac 
Managers and players are often reminded that questioning an umpire’s strike zone is generally frowned upon. Tuesday, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was given some incentive to never do it again–especially during a broadcast. He received a fine for casually mentioning something about “two different strike zones” during Game 2 of the NLDS.
La Russa commented on the broadcast that home plate umpire Jerry Meals had “two different strike zones.”
Tuesday before Game 3, La Russa said he had “no disagreement at all” about being fined the undisclosed amount.“I’m embarrassed that I crossed the line,” La Russa said. “I know what the line is. I got upset and I crossed the line. If I get a chance, I will apologize to Jerry. Like I said, I’ve never had any problems with him. He’s a pro. He has my utmost respect. We were competing, and I got upset and crossed the line.”
La Russa is not alone in his on-air disapproval of balls and strikes. During Game 3 of the ALDS, Yankees manager Joe Girardi also felt CC Sabathia was getting squeezed by the ump.
Girardi continued his verbal assault in the post-game.
Question: “Joe, can you talk about the uncharacteristic wild night for CC?”
Girardi: “No, I actually thought he made a lot of good pitches tonight, and I thought the zone was a small zone tonight. No disrespect to anyone, but that’s what I thought. That’s what I saw.”
Q: “Did you think the zone was the same for both pitchers?”
G: “Well, I don’t necessarily look at (Justin) Verlander’s pitches. I look at our guy’s pitches.”
Q: “Can you see it was affecting CC?”
G: “Well, you make a lot of good pitches. You throw some borderline pitches, and you don’t get them. It makes the innings tougher. Sometimes you don’t get outs that maybe you should get outs. That’s all part of baseball. You have to fight your way through it.”
Expect Girardi to receive the same treatment (i.e. fine) from the league sometime today or tomorrow.
Cardinals’ La Russa fined for TV comments [Fox News]
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