Two umpiring incidents over the weekend rocked social media, and coincidentally enough, both involved teams from Mississippi.
The first ordeal took place in a Friday night game between Mississippi Valley State and New Orleans. Though the Delta Devils trailed the Privateers 7-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning and hopes of a two-out rally seemed slim, the umpire took matters into his own hands and called a questionable strike two, prompting the batter, Davis Mims, to step out of the box in protest.
The next pitch was even wilder than the one prior, objectively nowhere near the strike zone as the catcher had to reach across his body to snag the ball. Nevertheless, strike three was called, effectively ending the game.
This is a division 1 baseball game… Can’t even call it a terrible call. Umpire made it personal. 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/zXOvzDmIbd
— 11Point7: The College Baseball Podcast 🎙 (@11point7) March 11, 2023
The Southland Conference later announced that the plate umpire, identified as Reggie Drummer, had been suspended indefinitely.
In an arguably more peculiar series of events, this time on the high school level in a game between Madison-Ridgeland Academy and Sillman (La.), the plate umpire quit in the sixth inning, and as he did so, he allegedly said, “I got six kids at home. I don’t need this.”
Best thing I’ve seen: umpire quits mid game at the MRA vs Silliman game. While he’s walking off the field he says “I got 6 kids at home and don’t need this” pic.twitter.com/vNGWoj3jLG
— Stephen Schoch (@bigdonkey47) March 11, 2023
What led up to the bizarre walk-out was the first-base coach confronting the umpire after a strike call on a checked swing, in which the umpire decided not to signal for the first base judge’s approval on.
MRA ended up winning the game 6-4.
