Minor League Umpire Ejects Public Address Announcer For Playing ‘Three Blind Mice’
Well, you don’t see this at a baseball game very often:
You never know what you’ll see at a professional sports game.
That’s something fans of the Daytona Cubs learned Wednesday night as they witnessed something a little out of the ordinary, even for Minor League Baseball.
They also learned that umpires do listen to what’s going around them, including outside the field of play.
One umpire ejected an intern from Wednesday night’s game for what he chose to play over the PA system during an argument on the field following a questionable call.
The song that got him tossed: “Three Blind Mice.”
If you’re a baseball fan, you already know umpires can be a prickly bunch. It’s not an easy job, and they often don’t get much respect from the fans in the stands.
But for home plate umpire Mario Seneca, whatever respect he did have from the fans may have been lost Wednesday night.
The controversial call came during the top of the eighth inning, with the Cubs up 2-1 against the Fort Myers Miracle. During a close play at first, a field umpire ruled the Cubs’ first baseman bobbled the ball, and that the runner was safe.
Daytona Manager Brian Harper came out to argue, and that’s when the intern, identified as Derek Dye in a video of the incident posted on YouTube, played “Three Blind Mice” over the PA system.
Seneca then turned and looked up at the PA booth and shouted, “You’re done!”
(…)
The fans at Jackie Robinson Ballpark kicked up the noise a notch for the remaining two innings of the game, and since the public address announcer was also ejected, a member of the Cubs’ management team stood on a box to announce the players coming to bat.
I never would have imagined that an umpire as the authority to eject a PA announcer, but apparently the same thing happened during another Minor League game in 1985. Seneca will be umpiring tonight’s game. Dye will be back. And the fans will be there too. Stay tuned.
Here’s the video (the sound is a bit low at the beginning):
That is hilarious! Gotta love baseball, and especially minor league play. Beats football by a long shot!
It’s happened before: http://www.leaderherald.com/page/content.detail/id/513251.html?nav=5014
If baseball is anything like soccer, the referee/umpire is has near god-like powers during the course of play on anything that is within sight/sound of the playing area.
Again, I am not a baseball guy, but as a soccer ref, I have the power to have the home team remove someone who in my opinion is bringing the game into disrepute by dissenting by word or deed.
I have seen some referees request the removal of certain fans, I have had a security guards and a nun sit right next to particularly obnoxious fans for a play-off game before. It is a game management tool that should not be used lightly, but should be available for use.
I can tell you that in Little League, the umpire has the authority to remove someone from the ballpark entirely. It’s never happened in my hometown, but technically, an umpire could toss the scorekeeper/announcer.
Baseball umpires are the worst most thin-skinned referees of any sport. They’re supposed to be concentrating on the game, not the sideshow.
The umpires are trying to make it to the majors as well. This particular one? He won’t make it.
Ob Leslie Neilsen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfH-EUvpx34#t=08m31s
Bet there is a run on dark glasses and white canes in Dayton today.
Also my latest hero is that intern, gotta love it! And yes, minor league ball is a whole lot more fun.