SURPRISE, Ariz. — Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington had a few words with the home plate umpire Saturday when Prince Fielder struck out looking. Washington wasn’t tossed, but the moment recalled the time he was ejected during a spring game and he protested the fine by sending MLB 20,000 pennies. During a game in March 2011, Adrian Beltre had been thrown out and Washington quickly followed. “I lost my mind,” Washington recalled. “Beltre was yelling from the dugout, ‘It was outside!’ And the umpire threw him out of the game because he told Beltre to stop and Beltre didn’t stop. And then I went out there and argued with him and I said something I shouldn’t have said.” No big deal, Washington said. However, after the ejection Washington never left the dugout as required because the ballpark at Peoria Sports Complex isn’t exactly flush with great places for a manager to hang out if ejected. MLB fined him double — $200 — for not leaving the dugout. Washington responded by filling a box with $200 in pennies and mailing it to Bob Watson, MLB vice president in charge of discipline. Cost to mail it to New York: About $45. Watson called after receiving the box. Watson: “And you just had $200 in pennies hanging around? Washington: “Yes. Bob, I didn’t have my checkbook. I wasn’t trying to be funny. Now go to the bank and put that in the [change] machine and get your $200.”
By Stefan Stevensonsstevenson@star-telegram.com
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