Alex Rodriguez may have been a victim of circumstance Thursday night, but he still paid for it with his first ejection since 1997.
The Rangers’ shortstop, who earns nearly $136,000 per game, was given a short workday Thursday by first base umpire Mike DiMuro.
Rodriguez was attempting to beat out an infield roller in the seventh inning that deflected off Rocky Biddle’s leg toward first base. Rodriguez tried a head-first slide into first, and though replays appeared to show Rodriguez barely beat the toss from first baseman Paul Konerko to Biddle, DiMuro called him out.
Rodriguez bounced up off the ground and immediately went toward DiMuro to protest the call, tripping and accidentally falling into DiMuro while trying to maintain his balance. DiMuro immediately ejected Rodriguez for making contact with an umpire, an act that typically results in a suspension.
Rodriguez tried to plead his case, but DiMuro called it strictly by the book, citing Rule 4.06 (a-4), which states a player, manager or coach may not “make incidental contact with the umpire in any manner.”
“He came out to argue with Mike and wasn’t in control of his body,” crew chief Ed Montague said.
Rodriguez went to Montague after the game with a videotape of the incident.
“I made a mistake and I tripped,” Rodriguez said. “That’s part of being a human being. I feel very bad about the situation, but my mistake was I tripped. . . . Unfortunately, the [only umpire] who did not have a good perspective was Mike.”
Clean bill: Magglio Ordonez recovered from his mysterious illness Wednesday and was back in the starting lineup.
Ordonez was removed from Tuesday’s game and briefly hospitalized after feeling pains in his side. Tests for appendicitis and kidney stones revealed nothing wrong with Ordonez, other than severe abdominal discomfort.
“I could’ve made it through the game, but it’s hard to play in pain,” Ordonez said. “They told me it could’ve been a kidney stone or something, but it wasn’t anything serious.”
Ray Durham missed his third straight start with an injury to his left hand, but made a pinch-hit appearance in the eighth, flying out in place of Mark Johnson. Manager Jerry Manuel has no timetable for Durham’s return to the starting lineup.
“It’s kind of like a pull,” Manuel said. “You have to let something like that run its course.”
Hit parade: First ex-Sox outfielder Mike Cameron comes into Comiskey Park and ties a major-league record with four home runs. Then ex-Sox third baseman Herbert Perry comes to town Tuesday and hits a two-run homer in his first at-bat.
What’s up with all the former Sox players homering in their old park?
“That’s just one of those things,” Perry said. “Now if I had hit four on Tuesday, that would’ve been a story.”
Perry played only two seasons for the Sox, but he built a cult following with his clutch hitting and defense. He has heard both cheers and boos in his first series back in Chicago.
“It has been mixed,” he said. “Some people said they missed me. Some have called me traitor. I’m thinking, `Well, I didn’t really have much to say in that [trade].'”
Minor report: One of the Sox’s minor-league teams is making some dubious history. After losing a doubleheader Tuesday, Class A Winston-Salem has lost a franchise record 11 straight games, breaking a 57-year-old club record.
