Craziest thing witnessed at a game....

Like I said in the other thread, crazy parents.  Very good story though.

 

This is probably not the craziest thing, but during a game my son was playing last summer a teammate of his was at the plate.  Pitcher throws the ball and it hits the ground about 5 feet in front of home plate then bounces into the catcher's mitt.  The call?  A strike of course.  I knew then we were in for a long day.

I saw the 11u team my son was on score 33 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning in a AAU tournament once... I was keeping the book that day - lots of boxes were filled...

 

That was a little crazy...

 

Another crazy thing I saw was just recently...

 

Our closer comes in the top of 6th, we are down 4-2 at home, with runners on 1st & 2nd with no outs... he walks the 1st batter he faces, then strikes out the side... NICE! In the bottom of the 6th we have 2 outs and the 3rd batter walks... Because we're batting the pitcher, our closer get an AB - his first AB of the season... He proceeds to hit a 2-run, game tying homer... In the top of 7th, they score a run, and we tie it up 5-5 in the bottom of the 7th... We hold them in the top of the 8th, and our leadoff batter gets to secondbase on a throwing error by their secondbaseman that sails into their dugout. They then intenionally walk our DH to get to our closer who on his second AB of the season, hits a walk-off 3-run homer!

 

Not a bad night... 2-for-2, with 2 homers and 5 RBI's, game-tying and walk-off + Striking out the sidewith bases loaded...

 

I jokingly told him to call a press conference in the morning to announce his retirement, because it will never be any better than that!

 

This happened a couple of weeks ago...On a dropped third strike, the catcher on son's team threw the ball down to first, drilling the baserunner in the back. The ball somehow bounced over the runner's shoulder, straight into the glove of the first baseman, who tagged the runner out. Had to watch it again on video to believe it.

The best one I saw was preteen ball. The umpire didn't know the call. The runner missed home. The rundown took place in the dugout as the runner tried to get back to the plate.

Craziest thing I have ever seen was at the 16U AAA Nationals, the play was a deception play that I only saw tried once and before I witnessed it I would have never believed it would work.

 

• Runner on 1st base with one out...the kid had 2 or 3 steals previously in the game.
• Runner steals second uncontested however while he is running the defense starts yelling UP,UP, UP and the 2B started calling for the ball like it's an infield pop up. 
•  Runner on 2B quickly stops and then starts running back to first to avoid what he thinks will be a double play...what he doesn't know is that there is no pop up and it was a swinging strike which the catcher quickly threw the ball to FB while the runner was stealing.  
• As the runner made his way back to first our 1B (my son) promptly took the ball out of his glove and tagged the runner trying to get back to first. Son said he was laughing so hard he was afraid he wouldn't be able to make the tag. 

Jersey - 

My 14U son's coach has a similar one except the catcher throws the ball high in the air to second base to simulate the "pop up".

 

My son's said if it ever gets called when he's on the mound he's just going to airmail it to the backstop to save his team the embarrassment. 

 

Moms...

Great stories!

 

I feel like I should do better than this story...but somehow it sticks with me.

 

Older son was pitching in East Cobb...main field...18U WWBA championships.  Playoffs...round of 16, facing off against one of the EC teams.

 

His team is ahead 2-1 in the 7th, leadoff hitter smokes a fastball 400+ ft. over the centerfield wall and up into the building out there.  2-2.  As he rounds the bases, he is dancing and taunting.  Whole team waiting for him at home, when he arrives at home he jumps into the air and into their arms.

 

But he missed home plate.

 

Son's coach calls timeout to talk to him....with catcher.  As the catcher comes back to home plate I can see him talking to the umpire who nods his head.  At this point, I know the umpire saw it.

 

Son steps off rubber and lobs the ball to the catcher who steps on home plate and the umpire subsequently calls the previous batter "out!"

 

Chaos erupts.  EC side goes nuts...coach goes nuts...fans go nuts.  Guy sitting next to me says, "That umpire will never call a game here again."  <-No idea if thats true or not?

 

2 quick ground balls.  Game over, we win 2-1.  Folks were waiting in parking lot for our team (with taunts) and the poor umpire.  But that was it.  Just a lotta frustration on their part.

I remember that one from my own little league days... Dugouts had two openings in the chain link fence, one at either end. Catcher chased the runner from one end to the other, both tripping over bats, gloves, gear etc. Runner then sprinted back to home, sliding in, where ump called him safe... 

1987 18 year old Dixie Majors game and our catcher doesn't show up so I get stuck behind the plate.  1st and 3rd with no outs and 2 strikes on the batter and he swings and makes contact with one thread and I hang on to the ball and throw the runner stealing out at 2nd.  2B throws back to me and we get the other runner in a long convuluted rundown and I end up tagging him out diving back into 3rd base. I got excited and spiked the ball and whole team runs off the field whooping it up.  the whole time the homeplate ump was waving his arms behind the plate and after we settled down he says it was a foul ball so it's dead and he sends the runners back to their bases and there are still 2 strikes on the batter. our coach was a big beer-bellied crazy looking guy with long hair down his back and no teeth and after a long obscenity filled arguement he threw everything in the dugout onto the field.  while he was kicking dirt on the plate and such, the asst coach cleaned it all up and then the head coach threw it all back on the field again. he finally left and went up on the hill above the field but kept yelling so the ump told him he had to go far enough away that he couldn't hear him anymore.  so he walked up the road and every 20 yards or so he would turn around and start cursing again and the ump would wave him further away until he was happy. coach went to his truck and got his cooler and brought it back to that spot and sat on it drinking beer the rest of the game.

 

we finally get back on the field and I asked the ump if he remembered the count and he said 0-2.  I said but he swung at the last pitch and he said but he fouled it and I said but I caught it and after a long pause he mumbled some obscenities to himself and then said '1 out, next batter' which brought the other coach out of the dugout, but he didn't go nuts.     

At 14U my son played a game against a team that clearly should not have been in the tournament.  Our coach realized this in the 1st inning (we were their 1st game) and when the score reached 15-0 (in the 2nd) our coach talked to our boys and had them "go easy."  When we were at bat, my son was standing on 3rd when he made a run to steal home.  He got about 2 feet from the plate when he came to a dead stop, turned around and ran back to 3rd.  The ball was no where near him and everyone was completely shocked at his manuver.  When he did finally get to score and was asked what happend his response was "Coach told us to be nice and not steal, I forgot and then I remembered, so I went back."

There is no way that the umpire ever got another $ from EC.

Other crazy things I remember:

 

1) Kid that pitched on our 11u travel team was super dominant... No-hitters and perfect games were pretty commonplace when he was on the 50/70 mound... In one game, he K'd EVERY OUT recorded in a run-ruled 5-inning game... The only ball the team actually advanced forward in the game was a foul-pop that my son, playing 1B, lost in the sun by the dugout... The score card was pretty amazing... 15 K's in 5 innings... There was 1-walk in the game so the game wasn't perfect... My son hit a walk-off grand slam in that game to give us the run-rule win in the bottom of 5th.

 

2) Another amazing pitching feat I saw was accomplished by my son who ironically isn't a pitcher... He has a pretty stong arm, but really dislikes pitching... He hadn't pitched in about 3 years (last time was on the 50/70), but the coach of our 7th grade feeder team asked him to close out a game we were up in, going into the 6th inning... he warmed up in the bullpen, and came in to start the 6th... On his first time on the 60' 6" mound, he K's the first two batters on 8 pitches and got the 3rd batter to hit a weak, jam-shot, linedrive directly to him. 12 pitches total, all strikes. He comes out for the 7th inning and K's the first guy on 3 pitches, then K's the next guy on 5 pitches (2 foul balls), the third batter of the inning swings and misses his next 2 pitches and then weakly grounds out 6-3... 22 pitches in total, ALL STRIKES... not a single ball... He pitched a few more times after that with very good success, but hasn't pitched since 2011... No interest in it whatsoever...

I guess it was the time I called my own player out in a Coaches Pitch game.  Kid hits a ground ball resulting in a fairly close play at first.  Umpire, who was our league "commissioner" was looking through the fence talking to somebody and didn't see the play.  Everybody looks to her for a call.  She looks at me with total fear in her eyes as if to say "what do I do now?"  I signaled out.  She mouthed "was he out?"  I nodded yes and she called him out.

 

Ironically, a week or so before her 15 year old son had been umpiring a game, but spent most of the time talking to his girlfriend through the fence.  I got fed up and yelled at him "Stop talking to your girlfriend and watch the game or get out."  He turned to his mom, who was seated with the girlfriend, and she told him "He's right."

 

I posted this last summer as it is to good to be true but incredibly memorable.  You just can't make stuff like this  up.  If you go to enough ball games you'll see something different.

 

We were at the ballpark watching our son play in an American Legion game back in June 2012.  I'm coming out of the men's room between innings.   All of the sudden this Black Labrador dog busts through the stadium gates (I think the stadium attendent was taking a siesta) and runs onto the field right as this boy hits a ground ball to SS.  The boy is running and the dog is nipping at this heels in an effort to play with him.   The SS throws the ball to first and the human runner is out but the canine runner touches first and heads to second.  The dog touches second and heads to third at full speed.  My son is playing third, and tries to catch the dog.  The dog veers off but also (somehow) touches third base.  By now, many players are trying to get the dog, and the dog decides to head toward the bullpen.   Without skipping a beat, the stadium announcer calls the dog out for leaving the baseline.  The dog runs around the stadium area until they coax out with some food.  Unbelievable.  I still can't figure out how the dog knew to touch the bases.

It was surreal. My wife and I look at each other as if to say...."did that really just happen".

You win!! Too funny!!

Good Stuff...

 

My story goes like this..."Plate Umpire Thrown Out of Game, escourted out of park by Police"...in 2006 our 14U team was playing in Southheaven, MS...at at summer tournament...cant remember the name of it, but was some really good teams...anyway, our team arrived early to watch part of one of the games...while watching...the Pitcher was winding up to throw...either batter or catcher called time...not sure which...and both batter and catcher moved...leaving the umpire there...but the pitcher was in the process of throwing a fast ball and couldn't stop...we've all seen it...but this event...where the Umpire took the pitch directly in the chest...must not have hurt him too bad...as he proceeded to rip off his mask, slings it away and charged the mound...a grown man...charging the mound against a 14 year old kid...WOW...but we were seeing it with our own eyes..mid way to the mound...guess the Umpire realized it...stops, points and screams at the young man...I can personally say...the Pitcher DID NOT THROW intentially....he was doing his job...just an event of the circumstances...the pitcher freaked a little...but the Pitcher's dad...who happened to be the head coach of their team and was a rather large man...intervened...and if I were in that situation I would had as well...and I can say the Dad was very calm and cool dude(but could have ripped the upm's head completely off,) got his attention real quick...the dad told him if he wanted to charge someone charge him...Ump makes a quik and wise decision to turnaound, but is arguing with fans, then other team coaches...where it becomes a complete distraction to the game...tournament director is called to the field...almost a riot to kill the ump...police called...Ump escourted out of the park...took another 20 minutes or so to get a new Umpire...first time I had seen a plate ump thrown out of a game...the Pitcher went on to have a great game and got the win!  That's my story...and I'm sticking to it...

 

Great story Good-eye.  I would have paid to see an umpire get thrown out of his own game.

 

Oh, I got another one.  This is a doozey.    

 

About 10 years ago, I played hookey from work with a friend and our two sons who were about 9 years old at the time.  He had Orioles season tickets through his company.  Great seats right behind the Orioles dugout down the first base line.   The Orioles are playing the Cubs right after Sammy Sosa had just been re-instated by MLB for corking his bat.  Late in the game (it was dark), this guy dressed in a trench coat jumps the right field barrier and runs over to Sammy Sosa.  He stands about 10 yards from Sammy, and opens up his trench coat where several hundred corks come flying out.   The crowd bursts into laughter, and gives the guy a standing ovation.  The cops come and take the guy away.  It was surreal.  I saw no mention of it in the paper or anywhere.  I hadn't thought about it in years, and it still makes me laugh.

 

Note: I do not condone this behavior, but I'm just reporting what I saw. 

I was watching a game last year.  Before we got there, the pitcher for the team that was currently on the field hit a home run and apparently was pretty disrepectful while rounding the bases.  Now, he was struggling on the mound.  He threw a pitch, which the batter reached out and caught bare handed, and then tossed it back to the pitcher saying "Is that all you got?"  Well, you can imagine what happened next.  The pitcher charged the plate, the dugouts emptied, parents got into the fray, the police were called and the only one tossed from the game was the batter.  Delayed our game by about an hour as they sorted things out and continued that game.  Definately entertaining. 

These are really crazy...and kind of funny too. 

justbaseball,

 

I was there when that happened.  Lots of people don't understand that those are PG events and the umpires are hired by PG not East Cobb. Actually the umpires come from all over the country to work games every July. Not a big deal but it sort of irritates me when people talk about the big East Cobb or Jupiter tournaments.  Those are both PG WWBA events. As any one who has been there knows, a small % of all the games are played at East Cobb. But it is the home tournament site and over the years we have seen some very strange things there and elsewhere.

 

I have had the opportunity to see many strange things in baseball.  I'm sure there will be many more.  I love these stories and hope this thread lasts.  When I have more time I will tell a few good ones. Unfortunately some of the best ones I can't talk about.

Two at the moment..

 

1) Playing our cross-town rivals at our field so we're the home team. We're tied going into the 7th. They had a kid come up with a runner on and hit a home run and goes around the bases. All of their players greet him at home plate. I am standing in our dugout with our pitching coach and assistant coach and all three of us at once go running to tell the head coach he missed home plate. We appeal and the umpire calls him out. We come up in the bottom of the 7th and score to tie it sending the game into extra innings. Game ended up going 14 innings and getting called due to impending rain and darkness.

 

2) I think I've talked about this before, but I've seen an umpire choose to leave in a middle of a game. Our pitching coach was riding him and he finally got fed up. Walked from 1st base to our 3rd base dugout and handed our head coach his check. Turned and walked out the right field gate and left.

Back in the early 90's when I was in high school it was impossible to find teams to play on that were any good in West Virginia.  The summer after my Junior year in high school I'm playing on this team from the community on the other side of the mountain (seriously).  We played them in high school season but I didn't know any of the guys on the team but they were really cool and welcomed me to the team.

 

We didn't have uniforms and most of us played in sweat pants.  We were at this one place playing and I'm the starter at first base.  Just prior to the start of the bottom of the third inning I'm throwing the ball around to the infielders and taking their throws.  The pitcher finishes warming up and the catcher throws down.  I toss the ball over to the dugout and take my position.  The pitcher is getting signs when all of a sudden we hear from center field "HEY HOLD ON!!!!!  JUST A MINUTE I'M NOT READY!!!!!" Everything stops and everyone looks out to centerfield and we see our CF leaving the concession stand.  He has two hotdogs and a Pepsi in a can.  He puts the hotdogs in his back pockets and hurdles the fence while holding his glove and Pepsi.  He gets to his position and puts the Pepsi on the ground......after he opened it and then puts his glove on.  Then he yells out "OK I'M READY - LET'S GO!!!!!".  We then started the inning and he ate both hotdogs and drank the Pepsi while the inning was going on.

 

Later in the game I go up to the plate to hit and the umpire looks at me and says, "You're really not with them are you?"  I replied, "No I'm not - what gave it away?"  The ump says "Well all of them are wearing red sweat pants and you're wearing green.  Plus you're not an idiot like the rest of them."  Their high school colors were red and white and my high school was green and gold.....and I wasn't an idiot like them.

 

I have to say they were one of the biggest bush league groups I've ever seen in my life but they could play some baseball.  Although they were bush league it was one of the most fun times I've had in my life.  I was constantly laughing at the things they did.

 

 

Back when I was coaching LL we had an older ump whose only protection was his mask.

The catchers on both teams had a long way to go to learn that position.In the 1st inning

he got hit at least 5 times by normal pitches the kids could not hang on too.In the 4th, after being hit many times he took a fastball off his shin, ripped off his mask and said he

couldn't take it any more and walked off the field and went home.

When I was 9 I was on a different team than I am now and we were at a tournament and the Umpire said there was 2 outs and 2 strikes. He then called strike 3 and the runner on third stayed as we ran off the field and when we were in the dugout the kid ran home and the umpire said it was a run and that was only strike 2 when he clearly called it strike 3 at first. Our head coach wasn't there because he was coaching a game for the older team we had so his wife came running on the field screaming at the umpire and other team. She then said she was going to call the coach and get him over here and it was crazy.