Moises Alou was ejected in the seventh inning Sunday for questioning a strikeout that happened two innings earlier on which first-base umpire Rob Drake ruled he hadn’t checked his swing in time.
Manager Dusty Baker said he was shocked by the ejection. Alou had tossed his bat and his shin guard and was fined
after the strikeout, and wouldn’t let it go two innings later.
“This is the first time I got kicked out of the game for not saying anything,” Alou said. “I was upset at first, but I just asked [Drake] if he took a good look at my checked swing. He said, ‘Yeah, why?’ I said, ‘It wasn’t even close,’ and he threw me out of the game.”
IN LIMBO: Todd Walker’s .438 average in August hasn’t helped him get any more playing time at second base, especially now that Mark Grudzielanek is going well. But with Aramis Ramirez resting a sore groin and Ramon Martinez hitting .172 since the All-Star break, could Walker take over at third when Ramirez sits?
“He hasn’t played third,” Baker said. “It’s not that easy just to put somebody someplace.”
Walker played 60 games at third base for Minnesota in 1996 and ’97.
HONORED: Greg Maddux was honored before Sunday’s game for his 300th career victory. “This has always been a special place for me,” Maddux said. Gov. Blagojevich proclaimed Aug. 15 Gregory Alan Maddux Day in Illinois.
