Friday, August 22, 2008

Suspension of disblief

We're in Pensacola for the weekend. Fully expect to get rained on before we leave. I mean, what with a tropical storm heading this way and all.

Still, we've enjoyed going to the ball park in Pensacola while we're here. After all, I like baseball.

And Pensacola has a baseball team: the Pensacola Pelicans of the independent American Association.

And they're playing the Grand Prairie AirHogs, who have a second baseman named Brandon Carter, who played for the Columbus Catfish in 2004, 2005, and 2006.

Only, Friday night, we didn't get to see much of Brandon. He was tossed from the game in the 5th inning.

And that was hard to believe.

You see, Brandon's not exactly a hot head. He tries not to let things bother him. He plays hard, but he plays clean. And he's a good fellow. He was voted "Citizen of the Year" by Catfish fans in 2005.

So, it surprised me when Brandon was tossed from the game by 1B umpire Terrance Mobley.

Heck, it surprised everyone.

And, as best as we can tell, from the talk among fans, staff, and even some players, Brandon, who was playing shortstop, said something to Mobley, along the line of "Hey, why are y'all making all those calls against us? We can't catch a break from you."

No, not those exact words, but that seems to be the general meaning and tone of what was said.

Mobley didn't like that, told Brandon that he could toss him for that. Brandon said, "For that?" And Mobley tossed him.

Brandon was not a happy camper. AirHogs manager Pete Incaviglia took up his cause.

When all was said and done, both Brandon and the Skipper were tossed.

And Brandon's ejection came with a suspension. He doesn't know for how long. He already missed one game: the second game of the Friday night double header; the ejection came in the 5th inning of the first game.

Afterwards, I asked him how long he had to sit out. He didn't know, but figured he'd get all that information when they got back.

Don't know if a suspension is automatic for players, but not managers. Don't know if it's just for one game. Don't know if he loses any pay.

And still not sure what caused the ejection. You see, it's not uncommon for players to chat with each other or with the umpires during lulls in the action.

Seems that Mobley didn't care for what Brandon said. But, according to the Pensacola fans around us, they're not surprised by Mobley's actions. They said that, this season, he's ejected Pensacola manager Mac Seibert multiple times. They say Mobley has a hair trigger.

And, tonight, Brandon was in his sights.

Incaviglia was back on the bench for game two. Brandon was showering, getting ready for 655-mile bus trip back to Grand Prairie, Texas.

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