Mike Rizzo didn't leave ballpark after ejection in Atlanta originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Mike Rizzo's ejection by the hands of umpire Joe West just got even better.
Not only is it humorous that West felt the need to toss the Nationals' general manager from a game for arguing balls and strikes from a couple hundred feet away, but apparently West's ruling didn't really stick.
As Rizzo explained on "The Sports Junkies" Friday, he didn't leave Atlanta's Truist Park after his ejection. In fact, he didn't even move.
"I did nothing, I stood there and watched the game," Rizzo said. "What can they do? What threat was I anyway? Where are you supposed to go?"
This wasn't a total act of defiance from Rizzo, though. He certainly didn't believe he deserved an ejection, but the fact of the matter is there was really nowhere for him to go.
"With all the [COVID-19] protocols, there's nowhere really to go," he said. "Where do you leave the suite on the third level, to go where, by the field? You're not allowed in the clubhouse because of the protocols. What do you sit outside of the stadium?
"I didn't know what to do, so I just stayed there," he said.
Maybe if the game was in Washington, Rizzo could have left and figured out a place to go. But Sept. 6 was the team's final game in Atlanta before they returned home to D.C. The best thing for Rizzo to do was stay put, so he did.
As far as West knowing what Rizzo did or didn't do after he tossed him, nobody knows quite yet, but Rizzo plans to find out this weekend.
"I'll ask him this five-game span because his crew is here," he said.
