BOSTON (AP) - New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi doesn’t expect to be fined for pushing a television camera to keep it from showing pitcher Michael Pineda walking in the tunnel from the team’s dugout to the clubhouse on Wednesday night.
Girardi pushed the camera at the corner of his dugout after Pineda was ejected in the second inning for having pine tar on the right side of his neck. The Boston Red Sox went on to win 5-1.
Girardi said cameras are not permitted to show scenes in the tunnel. And he said he’ll have “a real problem” if he is fined. “I didn’t do anything to hurt the camera.”
Asked if Major League Baseball would have a problem with him pushing the camera, Girardi said, “I don’t think so. I think Major League Baseball is going to have a problem with ESPN going in our tunnel.
“I didn’t break the camera. All I did was kept it from going in our tunnel. You (reporters) are acting like I ripped it apart. The camera worked the rest of the game, didn’t it? All I did was turn it so it was on the field and in the dugout” and not facing the tunnel.
ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said the network plans to review the situation with Major League Baseball.
Girardi appeared calm when he talked with plate umpire Gerry Davis moments after Davis ejected Pineda with two outs and no base runners in the bottom of the second.
“What frustrated me is the camera is meant for the dugout, not for the tunnel, and Michael was already out of the game,” Girardi said. “I don’t want it down in our tunnel. That’s our private area. It has clearly been stated that this (camera) is for the dugout, not for the tunnel and conversations that happen between players and coaches and that was my beef. If I was really going to tear up the camera I would have (torn) it up, but I was just trying to get it from being in the tunnel.”
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