COMMENTARY : Robinson Has Managed to Score Psychological Points for Orioles

Now that Frank Robinson has gone public with his criticism of umpires and then privately carried the complaint to the highest judge, Bobby Brown, president of the American League, it sets into potential motion what could evolve into a key element for the rest of the season. Will it hurt, help or be a nonfactor for the Baltimore Orioles in their last 77 games?

Robinson, whether he intended it or not, put the umpires against the wall. If they don’t realize they are on the defensive, then they worked too many doubleheaders in the Texas League. All of baseball is going to be watching to see if the Orioles and their manager get what they now construe as a fair shake. It’ll be an interesting study.

Maybe Robinson didn’t intend to do it this way, but the umpires have been embarrassed, the same as a manager showing up a player by taking him off the field while he’s in a defensive position during a game or a catcher turning around on an umpire when he knows that’s not the accepted way to protest a bad pitch.

Robinson’s salvo and the threat to quit as manager is an action that has intrigued and even stirred the spectators. They are going to be sounding off and questioning more calls than ever before, which doesn’t add to the joys of umpiring. Meanwhile, the players and managers in the other dugout, the visiting team, are going to be intently watching to see what unfolds.

The Oriole manager has ruled out anything racially involved in the dispute, which defuses the point his friend and hitting coach, Tom McCraw, made earlier this week. Robinson said it never crossed his mind it could be a black and white issue. No man, unless he’s a hood-wearing, card-carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan, likes to be painted a racist. The same with umpires.

Umpire Jim Evans of the American League told Ken Rosenthal, who covers the Orioles for the Evening Sun , that it’s “absurd” to categorize his fraternity as being biased against a team or individual. The fact Robinson threatened to quit, either out of frustration or ostensibly because of the rip he gave the umpires, was bothersome.

Robinson enjoys a reputation as a man of his word. If he was going to take leave of the club, then another manager had to be warmed up in the bullpen. It would have meant, in all probability, that either third-base coach Cal Ripken Sr. or first-base coach Johnny Oates would have succeeded him. Certainly, General Manager Roland Hemond and president Larry Lucchino had to either cool down Robinson and get him to stay, or be prepared to name a replacement if he left.

After Robinson protested so vehemently and even personalized the issue by claiming he might resign if their treatment of him didn’t improve, it is going to be interesting to study the umpires’ reaction. What will they be saying to each other in the quiet of their locker rooms?

Robinson, no doubt, is in a position to score a psychological victory for himself and the Orioles. He can’t get hurt because if the umpires try to do what he says they were doing--not giving him respect and making bad decisions--then it will only prove his case to the league president and the watching world. He can scream, or even whisper, about how brutal they are and get strong support in the stands and the press box. See, they’ll say, Frank was right.

If, however, the umpires go out of their way to establish dialogue and make life easier for Robinson and the Orioles, he has accomplished what every manager would like to be able to do. It’s called getting an edge, or making gamesmanship work. Some try by playing the role of a “good ole boy.” Others, such as Leo Durocher and even Earl Weaver, attempted to intimidate.

This is called playing games with an umpire’s mind. After all, despite what the anti-officiating crew says, umpires do have brains and feelings, plus human compassion for the less fortunate among us in life, including sportswriters. Umpires also have integrity and courage, and without them the sport would be swept up in the fires of anarchy.

No doubt, Robinson has created, either inadvertently or by design, a golden psychological arrangement that could work in his favor and that of the Orioles as they drive for the pennant in the second half of the schedule. It’s almost a no-lose situation. Don’t fail to believe the umpires aren’t aware of this. They know how to read newspapers and crowd reaction.

Right now, the pressure on umpires, when the Orioles are playing, is compounded. The umpires hope Brown, the American League president, will stand firm and not leave them out to dry. But the impression can’t be lost that if controversial calls keep coming up--right or wrong--in Orioles’ games, then it is going to take some explaining to the league office.

Since time began, managers have blasphemed umpires, even physically charged them, in what amounted to awful scenes. But here’s Robinson going about it in a different way. He has put them on notice by being quoted in wire stories all across the country. Robinson says he wants the chance to manage without his hands being tied--which is a reasonable enough request. Umpires, however, may beg to differ and possibly, being human, take subliminal exception.