Tampa Devil Rays Prospect Hits Umpire With Bat

FoxNews.com ^ | May 9, 2006 | AP

[Imnotalib]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay prospect Delmon Young, who plays for the Triple-A Durham Bulls, was suspended for 50 games without pay by the International League on Tuesday for throwing a bat that hit a replacement umpire in the chest.

IL president Randy Mobley said he believed the suspension was the longest in the league's 123-year history.

Young was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 draft and was chosen the 2005 minor league player of the year by Baseball America. His brother is Detroit Tigers star Dmitri Young.

"The Tampa Bay Devil Rays fully support the decision," the team said in a statement. "As stated before, we do not tolerate this type of conduct from anyone in the Devil Rays' organization."

[Delta 21]

Go ask Pete Rose bump.

[no dems]

Steroids make you do things, and act like, that.

[2dogjoe]

"Wow, another black baseball player with a really sucky attitude! I was wondering when we would get the next Barry Bonds-type player. Maybe Jesse and Cynthia can council him and help him lose his pent-up anger. What a crock."



Please don't make this a race issue.

[geezerwheezer]

What the heck do you mean making it a "race issue"? Don't know how to tell you this but look at the video, then you tell me who made it a "race issue" to start with. By the way, did someone appoint you God, or what? I must have missed that memo. Put a sock in it bubba!

[Recovering_Democrat]

This baseball player, I bet he snuck in over the border.

< \thread hijack>

[smonk]

the devil rays have a lot of trouble with their overall #1s. several years before young came josh hamilton, another outfielder they drafted out of high school. he crashed and burned over cocaine.

[demlosers]

I agree with Delmon that the ball was outside of the plate.

[demlosers]

Baseball is pathetic as hell today which is why I rarely watch it. Like you, I too grew up in the `60`s and I can`t ever remember crap like that happening.. Hitting an umpire would be like hitting your mother, impossible to imagine.

Hmmmmmm... go back another 50 years or more and you'll find that old time baseball umpires were despised and they were commonly beaten by players and fans alike.

In 1884 barbed wire was fastened around the field in Baltimore to contain the fans. That same season an umpire was beaten by an angry mob when he called a game a tie because of darkness. Police escorts were commonplace to move umpires out of ball parks and away from the menace of irate fans.