Nothing ever gets solved by arguing.
- Leo Durocher, 1961.

Of course a bit of context is needed for the quote from the long time Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher. Yes, Leo did make the statement when giving advice to some young athletes. Leo told the young men that they should be kind to each other and avoid arguments - because nothing ever gets solved by arguing.

But ... (and it's a big but) ...

It should be noted that Leo delivered his inspirational speech in a motion picture. Not just any motion picture either, but a comedy. At first the viewers couldn't see who was speaking. But then after the kids accepted the advice, the camera panned up to show it was Leo Durocher who was talking.

Today the humor about Leo saying that nothing ever gets solved by arguing may be so obscure as to require considerable elaboration. But at one time it would have been so familiar as to require no explanation. If there was anyone who ever tried to solve matters by arguing it was Leo "The Lip" Durocher.

Leo, of course, was not alone. Arguing with the umpire is as much a part of the game as throwing out the first pitch and pausing the game for the seventh inning stretch.² Everyone has seen the manager come barging onto the field to stand yelling nose-to-nose with the umpire. Then after a heated exchange, the manager storms off the field even though the calls never get reversed.

Well, as the Captain of the Pinafore said, hardly ever. Although it is rare, calls are reversed on occasion.³ But with all the arguing you see in ball games, it's a bit of a surprise to read that the official rules state flat out:

If a player, coach, or manager leaves his position to argue balls and strikes (including half swings), he should be warned to immediately return or he will be automatically ejected.

Not just can be ejected but will be and automatically ejected.

But if this is true, then why do we see the players and managers arguing about the calls? And without anyone getting tossed?

Well, it seems that the rules also state:

MLB Umpires should attempt to listen to managers and players if their comments and demeanor are reasonable.

So it seems that it's the arguments about balls and strikes - the judgement calls at the plate - that are prohibited and lead to an ejection. But if a manager comes out of the dugout he may just asking for the umpires to consult. If done with proper demeanor, that would be OK. Of course, the umpires may also cut the managers some slack.

And besides, rarely does anyone get to actually hear the arguments. Scholars of the game point out that sometimes the - quote - "argument" - unquote - is more for show than for substance. Once after a call, the manager stormed out and went up to the umpire and started shouting:

My pitcher is terrible. My bullpen can't get anybody out. My hitters haven't hit a ball out of the infield in three days.

The manager then had to tell the umpire not to laugh.

So what actually gets a player or manager bounced? Well, there are a number of - ah - "activities" - that can get a player removed during an argument. Physically touching an umpire is definitely an ejectable offense. Then a malefactor can also get tossed simply for using bad language - particularly really bad language - to the ump.

In fact there have been players ejected that were sitting in the dugout and not even playing in the game but who voiced a mal mot that the umpire could hear. This happened in Game 7 of the 1952 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers (no, Leo was no longer the manager). Ralph Branca of the Dodgers was ejected by home plate umpire Larry Goetz for some discourteous remark. Ejections in the World Series are rare and an ejection of someone not even actively playing was unheard of. But Ralph was "bench jockeying" and so was tossed.

Remember the rule states that questioning a call about ball and strikes will get a manager ejected. So it seems all the more odd that a pitcher tossing a "bean ball" - that is, deliberately trying to hit the batter (of which Dodger Don Drysdale had been accused of⁴) - may draw nothing more than a warning. For instance the rules state that if the pitcher intentionally throws the ball at the batter:

If in the umpire’s judgment, such a violation occurs, the umpire may elect either to:

(A) Expel the pitcher, or the manager and the pitcher, from the game, or

(B) may warn the pitcher and the manager of both teams that another such pitch will result in the immediate expulsion of that pitcher (or a replacement) and the manager.

If, in the umpire’s judgment, circumstances warrant, both teams may be officially “warned” prior to the game or at any time during the game.

So for a bean ball the umpire can eject a player or not. It depends on what he wants.

Certainly in the mind of many, one of the Champion Umpire Arguers - and who some may think even eclipsed Leo the Lip in linguistic lambastics - was Alfred Manuel Martin Jr., known better as Billy. Billy was famous in baseball as a player for the New York Yankees, the Kansas City Athletics, the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Red, Milwaukee Braves, Minnesota Twins and then as manager for the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, and then coming a full circle back to the Yankees. But as the many video clips of Billy attest, he was also famous for arguing most voraciously with the umpires.

But in fairness to Billy, if the actual numbers are consulted, Billy doesn't really come off as that cantankerous.

Ranking	Manager	Ejections
1	Bobby Cox	162
2	John McGraw	121
3	Leo Durocher	100
4	Earl Weaver	96
5	Tony La Russa	93
6	Bruce Bochy	89
7	Frankie Frisch	88
8	Ron Gardenhire	84
9	Paul Richards	82
10	Jim Leyland	73
11	Clark Griffith	73
12	Joe Torre	70
13	Bob Melvin	68
14	Lou Piniella	64
15	Clint Hurdle	64
16	Bill Rigney	64
17	Joe Maddon	59
18	Dick Williams	57
19	Sparky Anderson	56
20	Gene Mauch	54
21	Terry Francona	54
22	John Gibbons	53
23	Charlie Manuel	52
24	Jimmy Dykes	51
25	Mike Hargrove	50
26	Tommy Lasorda	48
27	Billy Martin	48
28	Mike Scioscia	47
29	Ned Yost	47
30	Jim Fregosi	46
31	Aaron Boone	46
32	Ralph Houk	45
33	Fred Hutchinson	45
34	Bobby Valentine	44
35	Phil Garner	44
36	Joe Girardi	43
37	Whitey Herzog	42
38	Buddy Bell	42
39	Casey Stengel	40
40	Terry Collins	40
41	Chuck Tanner	38
42	Bud Black	38
43	Don Mattingly	38
44	Pat Corrales	38
45	Walter Alston	37
46	Dave Bristol	37
47	Buck Showalter	36
48	Davey Johnson	36
49	Bill Dahlen	36
50	Fred Clarke	35

So if you go by the total number of times a manager got the old heave-ho Billy doesn't even make the top twenty. Way below Leo.

Admittedly the rankings are a bit of a surprise. Joe Torre never came off as grumpier than Billy, nor did Charlie Manuel. Of course what we're seeing here is the total number of ejections which is not necessarily a complete measure of contention. A better marker might be the ejection rate, that is the number of ejections as the percentage of games played. And what we see then is veeerrrrryyyyy interesting.

Ranking	Manager	Ejections	Games	Percentage
1	Bill Dahlen	36	615	5.85
2	Paul Richards	82	1837	4.46
3	Frankie Frisch	88	2246	3.92
4	Aaron Boone	46	1194	3.85
5	Earl Weaver	96	2541	3.78
6	Bobby Cox	162	4508	3.59
7	Ron Gardenhire	84	2480	3.39
8	Buddy Bell	42	1243	3.38
9	John Gibbons	53	1582	3.35
10	Pat Corrales	38	1211	3.14
11	Charlie Manuel	52	1826	2.85
12	Fred Hutchinson	45	1666	2.7
13	Leo Durocher	100	3739	2.67
14	Dave Bristol	37	1424	2.6
15	John McGraw	121	4769	2.54
16	Clark Griffith	73	2917	2.5
17	Bill Rigney	64	2561	2.5
18	Clint Hurdle	64	2615	2.45
19	Joe Maddon	59	2599	2.27
20	Jim Fregosi	46	2122	2.17
21	Phil Garner	44	2040	2.16
22	Billy Martin	48	2267	2.12
23	Mike Hargrove	50	2363	2.12
24	Joe Girardi	43	2055	2.09
25	Jim Leyland	73	3499	2.09
26	Bob Melvin	68	3266	2.08
27	Don Mattingly	38	1839	2.07
28	Terry Collins	40	2012	1.99
29	Bruce Bochy	89	4518	1.97
30	Dick Williams	57	3023	1.89
31	Bobby Valentine	44	2351	1.87
32	Ned Yost	47	2544	1.85
33	Lou Piniella	64	3548	1.80
34	Whitey Herzog	42	2409	1.74
35	Tony La Russa	93	5387	1.73
36	Jimmy Dykes	51	2962	1.72
37	Joe Torre	70	4329	1.62
38	Tommy Lasorda	48	3040	1.58
39	Mike Scioscia	47	3078	1.53
40	Davey Johnson	36	2445	1.47
41	Bud Black	38	2596	1.46
42	Terry Francona	54	3784	1.43
43	Ralph Houk	45	3157	1.43
44	Sparky Anderson	56	4030	1.39
45	Chuck Tanner	38	2738	1.39
46	Gene Mauch	54	3942	1.37
47	Fred Clarke	35	2826	1.24
48	Casey Stengel	40	3766	1.06
49	Buck Showalter	36	3393	1.06
50	Walter Alston	37	3658	1.01

In that case Leo, who comes in at a 2.6% ejection rate, drops below the Top 10. That's lower than even Charlie Manuel (2.8%). Joe Torre is actually quite cheerful at 1.6%. Even Billy is still below the Top 20 with a 2.2% ranking. So Billy was scarcely the most fractious of managers and Casey Stengel barely makes the list at all.⁵

You read that that ejections occur less frequently today, another topic of discussion for the scholars. For one thing ejections today require the umpire to file a written report. Not only is the paperwork a bother, but if the reasons for the ejection are deemed insufficient, the umpire can be subject to sanctions.

But the consensus seems to be that the decline in tossing is because video reviews of a call are allowed. Managers can ask for one review of a play in the first six innings and two more after that. On the other hand, if after a review a call is reversed and the manager still objects, that is an automatic ejection.

So with the Era of Arguments fading, it seems only appropriate to wind up this discussion with some pleasantries. Among the baseball bon mots are:

What's the difference between Einstein and a baseball manager?

Einstein didn't think he was a baseball manager.

What does a manager do when he gets old, decrepit, and blind?

He becomes an umpire.

And then there's:

There was once a baseball umpire who was always griping at his family. Then one day he realized he should try to be nicer to everyone and when he got home he asked his young son to come sit on his lap. But the boy wouldn't do it.

After all, the son never sits on the brutish umpire.

References and Further Reading

Billy Martin: Baseball's Flawed Genius, Bill Pennington, Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt, 2015.

Leo Durocher: Baseball's Prodigal Son, Paul Dickson, Bloomsbury, 2017.

Major League Baseball Umpire Manual, Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, 2019.

"Ejection", Baseball Reference.

"Debate at the Plate: Baseball's Unwritten Rules for Arguing Balls and Strikes", Lee Judge, Kansas City Star, July 13, 2018.

"My Pitcher Is Terrible, My Bullpen Can't Get Anybody Out": What Managers Really Yell About While Arguing With Umpires", Barry Petchesky, Deadspin, December 17, 2012.

"You’re Outa Here!", Indiana High School Coaches Association, March 11, 2025.

"Career Leaders & Records for Manager Ejections", Baseball Reference.

"20 Greatest Manager Meltdowns in Baseball History", Rick Weiner, Major League Baseball, June 4, 2018.

"El Paso Wins Two Games From Clifton - Both Teams Play Well", El Paso [Texas] Herald, August 8, 1910, p. 8.

"Seventh-Inning Stretch", Michael Aubrecht, Baseball Almanac.

"Nothing But the Facts", Cincinnati Magazine, April, 1982, p. 111.

"Rays Fall To White Sox 6-1, Drop to 1-8 On Season", Erik Hahmann, DraysBay, April 10, 2011.

"A Brief History of Overturned Calls", Jack Moore, The Score,, October 24, 2013.

"Piniella: From Storyteller to Maniac", Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times,

"The 30 Biggest Temper Tantrums in MLB History", Doug Mead, Bleacher Report, June 6, 2018.

"Bench Jockey", Baseball Dictionary.

"Bench Jockey", Dickson Baseball Dictionary, Norton, 2011, Third Edition (First Edition, 1982).

"MLB to Expand Instant Replay in 2014", ESPN, August 15, 2013.

"Interview with Mickey Mantle, Duke Snider, and Willie Mayes", Warner Wolf (interviewer), The Warner Wolf Show, WCBS, October 6, 1981.

The Errand Boy, Jerry Lewis (actor, writer, director), Ernest Gluscksman (producer), Stanley Adams (actor), Felicia Atkins (actor), Herb Vigran (actor), Barry Livingston (actor), Milton Frome (actor), Leo Durocher (cameo), Lorne Greene (cameo), Dan Blocker (cameo), Pernell Roberts (cameo), Michael Landon (cameo), Joe Besser (cameo), Walter Scharf (music), Paramount, 1961.