Umps Have Given Him The Grumps

The Indians feel DiMuro's group has a grudge against them, a bias that is reflected in their attitude and their calls. Naturally, the umpires say they do not. "We're certainly not out to get the Indians, and we never have been," says Phillips. Other umpires contend it is Robinson who bears grudges. Art Frantz, who was severely criticized in Robinson's ratings last season, says, "Frank should take a lesson from Detroit's Ralph Houk and learn to put things behind him. If I carried grudges, I couldn't umpire." Robinson counters it would be even more unusual if an umpire did not react to things said and done during an argument. "Those guys are human beings, just like the rest of us," he says. "You can't tell me they can be involved in a really heated argument one night, then just forget all about it the next." Robinson charged last year that Kunkel once threatened to "stick it to" Pitcher Tom Buskey the next time Buskey pitched and he was umpiring behind the plate. Kunkel says, "Ridiculous."

Cleveland has not gotten much sympathy from the American League. Robinson lost one appeal following the shoving incident last season, and Coach Rocky Colavito probably will lose another resulting from a similar confrontation (with Garcia) this year. The league's supervisor of umpires, Dick Butler, does not dismiss the possibility of scheduling the DiMuro crew for more Cleveland games later this season, although by coincidence or judicious design the foursome has not been listed to work any Indian games during July.

Robinson believes his three run-ins demonstrate how bad the problem is. The first involved Garcia on May 3. "I was getting on him from the dugout, but I wasn't cussing him," Robinson says. "Then in the eighth inning, he looks over at me and says I'm gone. I asked him why, and he said he was tired of hearing me yell at him. Phillips threw me out in New York when I was on the field talking to DiMuro. Then Kunkel got me in Chicago when I wasn't saying anything to anybody. I was angry about some calls, but I was sitting in the dugout, waving a towel real hard back and forth. I let go—accidentally—and tried to catch it by kicking at it with my foot. Instead, it landed on the dugout roof, which can happen there because the roof doesn't extend completely over the dugout. Anyway, Kunkel ran me, because he said I was just looking to be thrown out. Not one of those ejections would have happened with another crew."

Robinson's version of the three incidents is hardly indisputable. But the fact remains that all but one of the Indians' ejections this year have involved DiMuro's crew, which has thrown out only 11 members of the 11 other American League teams. That, the manager insists, cannot be just happenstance.

Although the Indians could only split a four-game series in New York last week, they haven't given up hopes of catching the Yankees. "Last year I wanted to finish at .500, because no Cleveland team has done that since 1968," says Robinson. "But this season that won't be enough. If we get some timely hitting, we'll have a chance. I just wish we could go out and play baseball, and not have those umpires take away what we're trying to do."

This time Robinson was not smiling.