Discipline Isn’t Likely for Gagne

Dodger All-Star closer Eric Gagne should not be disciplined for hitting a batter with a pitch Thursday in a loss to the Cincinnati Reds, but the umpire who ejected Gagne could face repercussions for his questionable judgment, a high-ranking Major League Baseball official said Friday.

Although Ralph Nelson, vice president of umpiring, had only begun reviewing the events that preceded the ninth-inning ejections of Gagne and Manager Jim Tracy in the Reds’ 6-4, 13-inning victory, he quickly determined that umpire Dan Iassogna erred in ruling Adam Dunn was intentionally hit after a two-run homer by Aaron Boone had cut the Dodgers’ lead to 4-2. Nelson agreed with the Dodgers, saying a pitcher in that situation would not intentionally hit a batter, bringing the potential tying run to the plate.

Nelson and Jim McKean, supervisor of umpires, had a 45-minute closed-door meeting with Tracy, General Manager Dan Evans and Dave Wallace, senior vice president, at Veterans Stadium before Friday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Nelson hopes to complete his report on the incident next week, and Bob Watson, baseball’s dean of on-field discipline, would officially hand out a fine or suspension against Gagne.

However, although Gagne made contact with Iassogna, Nelson, who has an influential voice in disciplinary matters, believes no further action is warranted against Gagne or Tracy. He was not as certain about what awaits Iassogna.

Baseball has cracked down on pitchers throwing at batters, and the current system forces umpires to use their judgment, but Nelson believes a mistake was made.

“I’ve already recommended to Bob that he not do anything to Gagne,” Nelson said. “Bob and I talk a lot in these kind of situations, and that’s my recommendation. I would say I feel strongly about that. As far as [Iassogna] ... well, I’m not there yet. It’s too early.”

Watson said he would “follow Ralph’s lead,” adding that Gagne and the Dodgers have already been punished. The team had a two-run lead and its closer on the mound when Iassogna made his stunning call. The Dodgers used four more pitchers, including starter Omar Daal, after Gagne was ejected for the first time in his three-year career, prompting Tracy to shuffle the rotation for the series against Philadelphia.

“Obviously, it cost them a game, it cost them a starting pitcher, and there were a lot of other problems because of what happened,” said Watson, who has reviewed tapes of the incident. “We can’t give them back the game. We can’t give them back the extra innings of pitching they had to use. They had to call up another pitcher, and that creates a domino effect.

“The bottom line is that they were put in a very difficult situation, and it’s not good for the game for us not to be our best in all situations. That’s why we’re going to have to talk a lot about what happened. My personal feelings are not going to enter into it, but I’ve been in this game for about 38 years now, and I think we’re talking about a young umpire who didn’t have the right instincts in that situation.”

Gagne was encouraged by Watson’s comments.

“Everybody makes mistakes,” Gagne said. “If they’re going to [admit it] and just try make the best out of it, I’m happy about it.”

Evans, who said a “high school” umpire would recognize the error, was pleased with the direction of the investigation.

“I’m satisfied with the professionalism that they showed, being here and openly discussing the situation with Jim, Dave Wallace and myself,” said Evans, who flew Friday from Los Angeles to attend the meeting after contacting Nelson and Watson the moment Gagne was ejected. “They needed to hear from us.”

Nelson spoke with umpire Gerry Davis, the crew chief Thursday, after the game and again Friday. He interviewed Iassogna, a reserve umpire from triple-A with extensive service in the majors, on the phone, and plans to speak with him in person next week. Umpires have been fined and suspended for their actions, but “this kid [Iassogna] just genuinely, thoroughly, believed he did the right thing at the time,” Nelson said.

In deciding whether to discipline Iassogna, Nelson said he must consider the difficult task umpires face in trying to enforce baseball’s mandate to crack down on on-field incidents. Moreover, the rules permitted Iassogna to either eject Gagne or issue a warning.

“The problem with the rule is that it involves umpire judgment,” he said. “It does put the umpire in a difficult situation, where he has to put himself inside the brain of the pitcher, and that’s a difficult thing. In this particular case, you have a young umpire, who both Jim Tracy and Dan Evans said is an excellent young umpire, a good balls-and-strikes guy.

“His instincts were that this was an intentional pitch, but I think that Dan should have, in my opinion, had a little better sense of this situation in the game. Obviously, had that been intentional, the pitcher would have been bringing the tying run to the plate, and that probably was not his intent.”

Iassogna has been in the rotation the last three seasons, and Nelson said he has “400 or more major league games under his belt.” But he is not on the full-time staff, and was reprimanded for not doing enough in a May 5 game between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Devil Rays in which three players were hit with pitches.

“As much as anything else, we hope that the [Gagne] incident becomes a source of instruction for the future,” said Sandy Alderson, executive vice president of baseball operations. “Each of these incidents, whether they turn out perfectly or not, help us make the right decisions in the future.”