The Magic Word

By Chris Russell on Yadier Molina
Umpires take a lot of grief from ball players, and vice verse. There is a laundry list of nasty, spiteful remarks that both parties will put up with (umpires especially), but it is known in tight baseball circles that there is one word that crosses the line. One word that you do not use… a particularly nasty word that umpires will not stand for. There is almost a myth surrounding it now, as it has been leaked to the media over the years, but it appears to hold water. On the occasional broadcast, you can read a player’s lips and know that he’s about to get tossed for dropping a verbal atom bomb. Yadier Molina most likely used this word on Monday.

In a heated argument over balls and strikes with home plate umpire, Paul Schrieber, Molina must have uttered “the ejection expletive” because he was bounced almost instantly. Yadi, not known for being a hot head, and well respected around the league for his poise and discipline behind the plate, must have spit out this no-no word to get booted so quickly. Once tossed, he got his money’s worth by calling Schrieber every name in the book, tearing off his catching equipment and tossing it in the ump’s general direction. Manager Tony LaRussa came out in Yadi’s defense and was ejected shortly after. Could Tony have dropped the bomb as well?

It’s very possible, as Tony is prone to ejection, and since he is a lawyer as well as a big league skipper we’ll assume he has quite the verbose vernacular. Regardless, he and Yadi were both tossed and the Cards lost the game 8-3. Not a banner day for the Redbirds, but quite a display of potty-mouthing.

Dennis Nedry knows all about the magic word.Major League Baseball is investigating the incident to see if Yadi will be fined, suspended or both. If the latter comes to fruition the Cardinals could be in for an even bumper ride down the road (already losers of 6 of their last 7). Back up Jason LaRue, well, sucks, and he’s playing hurt on top of that fact that he only had 3 hits all season while healthy.

Everyone gets frustrated, and Yadi was only trying to protect his ace (Adam Wainwright was on the mound), but in future circumstances he should refrain from using that one… specific… word. It’s not like the Birds have Victor Martinez or Russell Martin pining for playing time when Yadi gets tossed. Now the Cardinals play the waiting game and see if their talented young catcher will miss any significant time for saying “the word.”

By the way, that word, allegedly… is c***sucker.