For once, someone may have missed the Coliseum.
Athletics manager Mark Kotsay had to make a 330-foot-plus walk of shame after being ejected from Sunday’s win over the Phillies since the home team clubhouse at Sutter Health Park — a minor-league park in Sacramento serving as the team’s temporary home — is located beyond the outfield walls.
While almost all his fellow managers can just retreat through their dugout to the clubhouse, Kotsay instead had plenty of time to think about his ejection in the seventh inning of a 5-4 win.
“It’s long. It’s long, definitely,” Kotsay said with a laugh. “There was a moment where I thought, should I jog? And then I thought, actually no, I think (Phillies starter Jesus) Luzardo could use a little break.”
The Athletics are playing in Sacramento while they prepare for their eventual move to Las Vegas and their home games are hosted at the home of the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.
Minor-league parks are not as lavish as major-league ones, which can create the awkward situation like the one that unfolded Sunday.
In a 3-3 game in the seventh, Kotsay earned the booth for disagreeing with a first-pitch strike call against Miguel Andujar with two on and two outs.
Kotsay noted in the ex-Yankee’s previous at-bat, Andujar also disagreed with a call and the manager said to let him know if he felt a wrong call had been made so he could take it up with umpire Roberto Ortiz.
Andujar felt the first pitch in the seventh missed but it was ruled a strike.
Kotsay argued the call from the bench before being ousted, and he then walked to the plate to let Ortiz hear it. Kotsay’s outrage included some finger pointing.
“I was obviously frustrated with the first call, I expressed that, but I was more frustrated in the reaction that I got back from the umpire,” Kotsay said.
“And that’s what we kind of talked about. I made sure that he was aware that I was frustrated with how he treated me. I know he’s frustrated with my disagreement in the balls and strikes, which he’s perfectly allowed to be, but I think we agree to disagree in that situation.”
Kotsay then made the trek down the left field line toward the wall, walking 330-something feet.
The game had to be paused while he walked, with some of the fans giving him an ovation. One reporter told Kotsay he clocked him walk at 48 seconds.
The A’s eventually rallied for two runs in the eighth to end their 11-game losing streak.
Kotsay watched the end of the game in the training room.
“No one in that room was happy about losing 11 straight games and there’s obviously emotion that’s pent up,” Kotsay said. “Sometimes, that volcano erupts. There was nothing preconceived, there was no thought process, it was just reactionary to the moment in the game. It was a big moment in the game.
“I think I’ve grown up a little bit as a manager over the last three years, calmed down in certain ways and been able to be a better communicator and today I wasn’t maybe the best of communicators to the umpire.”
