Video: Texas Little League Umpire Assaulted After Tossing a Coach
According to Peyton Yager, a reporter from Fox 4 in Dallas, a youth baseball umpire named Sam Phelps was taken to the hospital after being shoved by a coach during the 3rd inning of a local little league game.
The confrontation happened after Phelps called a player safe at the plate on a bang-bang play where it seems like the catcher might have gotten a tag down. One of the coaches comes out to argue the call and the umpire tosses him pretty quickly. The coach leaves abruptly but not before he gets in a violent shove to the throat of the umpire.
You can watch the entire scene unfold in the video below:
There's absolutely no place for this at any level of sport, but especially at the little league level.
Fox 4 is also reporting that the umpire was taken via ambulance to a local hospital to get checked out for possible head injuries, but was released several hours later. Before being transported to the hospital, Phelps was down on the ground for 10 or 15 minutes. He's now pressing charges against the coach.
"I don’t want to destroy anyone’s life," Phelps told Fox 4. "But I would like this to be a learning opportunity to get this out there."
The whole incident took place in Denton, Texas. I don't know if this makes the whole situation worse, but it was a pair of select teams that had traveled to be a part of the tournament. The coach and his team traveled from Abilene to play baseball, but they won't be doing so again - at least not back to the same venue. The coach and team have been banned from participating in future tournaments.
Absolutely ridiculous move from the coach to strike the umpire and an all-time bad example for a field full of 10-year-old kids. Not only do they see a grown man resort to violence after not getting his way in a trivial game, but they also had to sit and wait for the umpire to be stretchered off the field to an ambulance.
Not an ideal day at the ballpark if you ask me.