Home plate umpire Tim Tscihda ejected Red Sox coach Dave Magadan (above) during Boston’s 8-3 loss to Oakland last night, not for the offense of impersonating a uniformed baseballer, but rather for Mags’ howls of protest when Tscihda forbid J.D. Drew from making repeated trips to grab a pine tar rag. 1B Kevin Youkilis took considerable umbrage, and not since Goose Gossage accused Joan Kroc of poisoning the world with Big Macs has a member of MLB’s workfork so eagerly chomped on the feeding hand. From the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman :

œThey™re trying to speed up the game? said first baseman Kevin Youkilis. œFor what reason? They made us go to Japan, why do they want us to speed up the game? If they want to speed up the game, why don™t they stop having commercials, that would do it.

Youkilis was just getting warmed up.

œSo guys can™t get pine tar but pitchers can still get rosin? he said. œThere™s nothing you can do to speed up the game. It seems like they™re blaming the hitters again but it™s not the hitter™s fault. This whole speeding up the game is just stupid – the game of baseball is a game of no time. Why do we need to speed it up?

Count Dustin Pedroia as being in the pro-offense, anti-clock camp with Youkilis.

œI think that™s a little ridiculous, Pedroia said. œWe don™t want J.D. to take a swing and throw his bat into the stands and hit a kid or an old lady.

Drew looked quite sour about becoming an unwitting guinea pig for the new rule.

œNobody really knows anything about it, the right fielder said of being stopped from getting more pine tar.

œI™ve been able to do it my whole career.

That’s settled then. Coming any minute now : T.J. Simers on the benefits of shorter games.