The Loop
Lance Lynn tells ump 'we've got a plane to catch' mid-game, ump looks just as confused as you
The dog days of summer are now long gone for many MLB teams, but now comes the final stretch of September, when your club is well aware if it's still in the hunt or completely out of it. Texas Rangers pitcher Lance Lynn sounds like a guy who knows exactly where his team is going, which, at 68-73, is nowhere, and he's not afraid to be very up front about it.
On Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, where Lynn started the rubber game against the Bronx Bombers, the pitcher had one of the more peculiar exchanges you'll see with an umpire all season. Apparently, the home-plate ump kept taking balls out of play, which irked both Lynn and Rangers manager Chris Woodward. After Woodward questioned the move, Lynn could be heard on the broadcast yelling at the ump. Here's what he had to say, courtesy of @Jomboy (as always):
Not surprisingly, the umpire is just as confused as the rest of us, though he wasn't making much sense himself. "I do it every single time," he says about taking balls out of play, followed by an explanation of why he's doing it when he does it and vice versa, thus implying he doesn't do it every single time. Huh?
Back to Lynn. How many times have you heard the "we've got a plane to catch!" joke, particularly in baseball, when a game is dragging on? A billion times. But to actually hear a pitcher say it in the middle of a game, while he's pitching, mind you, is pretty wild. Lynn, who is having a resurgent season, was actually pitching well, giving up just three runs on five hits against a loaded Yankee lineup. But he's not kidding himself. The Rangers are not in any kind of playoff race and they're probably not too concerned with winning this game by any means necessary. Let's keep it moving and hop on a plane to .... (checks notes) .... Baltimore?
Not exactly a cross-country flight there, Lance. Think the Rangers would be okay if they missed that one, as a bus or train would still get you there by morning. But Lynn obviously wants no part of that, and it's hard to blame him. The bus and the train suck.