Baseball umpires are facing more criticism than maybe ever before. As the calls for robot umps grow louder, so do the nasty words from managers and players in Major League Baseball.
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This has led to some pretty wild ejections on the diamond. Still, it's rare to ever see anyone actually attack one of these ball-and-strike deciders. One game turned nasty in the Dominican Republic when a hitter was ejected and attacked an umpire with his bat.
Hitter Attacks Ump With Bat in Dominican Republic
Un jugador golpeó con un bate a un árbitro durante un encuentro de béisbol sostenido este domingo en la continuación de la Liga Campesina de San José de Ocoa.
(🎥 @Ocoaenred / @NavasMundial) pic.twitter.com/7duDURhPzB
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) May 24, 2021
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Elvis Lebrón apparently wasn't very happy with the home plate umpire's calls during a San José de Ocoa Peasant League baseball game on Sunday in San José de Ocoa, Dominican Republic.
Once Lebrón was tossed from the game, he immediately attacked him by punching him and swinging his bat at him. The umpire fell to the ground and, after getting up, was forced to dodge a helmet throw from Lebrón.
Lebrón picked up his bat and began walking back to his dugout before deciding he wasn't quite through. He charged the ump against and reared back like he wanted to swing his bat at him again.
According to MLB insider Héctor Gómez and ocoaenred.com, Lebrón was arrested by city police after the incident. The umpire briefly continued the game but was taken to a local hospital for evaluation an hour later.
Lebrón is a former Chicago Cubs prospect, per the New York Post. According to the ocoaenred.com article (which was translated from Spanish to English), he also "has a history of violence" on the field.
It sounds like the umpire wasn't hurt too badly if he was able to immediately continue calling the game. As for Lebrón, the league should not only suspend him but ban him from playing. Swinging a bat at an umpire crossed the line.
