Whilst masticating on , Ed Grinnell (1:170/1701)
wrote to Alan Hess:
AH>> Alomar said nothing derogatory about Hirschbeck's son.
EG> I read what Alomar said and I found nothing in it that was bad. 
No, there wasn't, and apparently Alomar isn't the only player or mamager who 
feels that Hirschbeck's demeanor changed following the death of his son.  
That wouldn't be a surprise - a tragedy of that magnitude has to affect a 
person.   Hirschbeck has a reputation for a quick trigger, something an 
umpire isn't supposed to have.  The umps are expected to calm tempers, not 
exacerbate situations.
EG> The most that you can say is that he displayed poor judgement 
EG> expressing his opinion about Hirschbeck to the vultures in the press. 
They 
Absolutely.  And I wonder what the mediots said to Hirschbeck that caused him 
to storm the clubhouse.  I'm sure they paraphrased Alomar's comments in a way 
intended to rile up Hirschbeck.
EG> exacerbated the incident by running over to get a reaction out of 
EG> Hirschbeck, like they tried to get a reaction out of Ripken about the 
EG> shortstop bruhaha. This time, they got what they wanted. As much as I 
hated 
EG> Alomar's spitting, I don't think that it compared to what the press did.
The spitting is indefensible (no matter what provoked Alomar.)  The media 
turned the situation into the lunacy it is now.  *adh*
--- MsgedSQ/2 3.35
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