As soon as the umpire rotation for the Phillies' series with the Marlins was posted on the board in the press box on Friday afternoon, my first thought was, "uh-oh, someone is getting run."
The reason for the reaction was that Dan Iassogna's name was on the list. Now I don't know Iassogna at all -- I've never spoken with him because umpires are not required to talk to the media before or after games. But I've seen Iassogna work games and I just did a Google photo search on him, and, to be kind, the guy seems a little angry. Actually, he appears kind of confrontational.
Iassogna, as some remember, was the umpire who always seemed to drive Larry Bowa crazier than any other ump -- and that's saying something. It was Iassogna who got the notch on his belt for running Bowa for the first time as Phillies manager in July of 2001 and the two continued to have some run-ins during the length of Bowa's stay as skipper.
In fact, Iassogna actually made me feel a little sympathetic toward Bowa during a few of those confrontations. For anyone who knows me, that's saying something.
So when both Chase Utley and Charlie Manuel got the heave-ho for a game where there were more than 40,000 people in the stands, I figured Dan needed a little attention.
Then again, it's not like I didn't see it coming.
Howard's 496-foot home run Wow... that should sum it up.