Archived Headlines
1. Player Suspensions (Slapping of Umpire): (posted 3/9/03)
Unfortunately, during the Fall 2002 there was an incident out on the field that resulted in an umpire being slapped in the head by a player. This was the result of this particular player, and some of his teammates, becoming angered by the ejection of their pitcher.
The pitcher had been warned numerous times with reference to continually complaining about the strike zone. He was asked to stop more than once, but didn't, which eventually resulted in his being ejected. On the way back to the dugout, the ejected pitcher angrily confronted the plate umpire and things went downhill from there. Many of the pitcher's teammates came to the plate. Some tried to diffuse the situation by pulling the pitcher away. Others, unfortunately, used this moment to angrily make complaints of their own. At some point there was some pushing and shoving going on. One player, who was trying to help the umpire by pulling the pitcher away, got shoved into the umpire, who put his own hands out and "pushed back" in his own defense. Not knowing that this player had been shoved into him, the umpire ejected this player as well. Unfortunately, another teammate took exception to this---particularly since all he had seen was the umpire shoving back at one of his teammates---which resulted in his slapping the umpire.
There was a Board Hearing and the players involved were invited to give their sides of the story. The player who slapped the umpire did appear, as well as some of his teammates. While the details won't be provided here, it should be noted that the hearing overall was very constructive for all involved. The player who slapped the umpire didn't try to deny having done so, nor did he consider it a trivial matter, and he therefore took full responsibility for his actions. At no point did he try to get the board to "overlook" his actions in the hopes of receiving an immediate reinstatement into the league---even though he was convinced, as well as some of his teammates, that the umpire himself had significantly contributed to the overall tension that led to this unfortunate event. Despite this, however, he was willing to accept any punishment that the board saw fit to impose. He merely wished to have a hearing to clear his name and to indicate that his actions were totally out of character.
Upon investigation it was discovered that this player had absolutely no previous problems out on the field. There were quite a few players (non teammates) in the league who confirmed this when contacted (some called to offer this without being contacted upon hearing about the incident), saying that this was in fact out of character for him. All were quite surprised that he was actually involved in something like this.
The board took this information into consideration in its final decision, which was this: The player who slapped the umpire was suspended for the entire season. And before he would be reinstated, he had to agree to fulfill certain requirements, as well as to an extensive probationary period. The player did agree to all of the conditions without argument.
The pitcher who had been ejected didn't appear before the board, though he had been offered the opportunity. At this point, and although he made no physical contact with the umpire himself but because he has had a history of causing problems, he, too, has been suspended for the entire season.
Conclusion:
Ultimately, this is an unfortunate incident that---fortunately---is very rare, to say the least. Non of those involved feel good about it, and all those involved wish it had never happened and would certainly appreciate the opportunity to undo it if they could. So . . .
. . . For the Player---no call is so "bad," nor umpire so "aggressive" (short of throwing a punch himself) that would ever justify physical assault of that umpire (or another player for that matter).
. . . For the Umpire---no amount of complaining by any player is so "bad" as to justify losing your own cool and perhaps "fueling" a fire that, in many cases, can't be put out any better than calmly indicating that the player needs to go home, then ignoring him until he does.
Even though it may not always seem so, we are all adults. So we need to treat each other as such, as difficult as that may be at times.