"they should give me a tip for that."

[fiasco!]

Asheville Tourists manager loses it following ejection

June 26, 2006

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Minor league manager Joe Mikulik had a major league tantrum Sunday night.

The manager of the Asheville Tourists, a Class-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies in the South Atlantic League, turned Applebee's Park into a one-man show following a close call at second base in the fifth inning of a 5-2 loss to Lexington Legends.

Lexington's Koby Clemens -- whose famous father Roger made a tuneup start for the Legends this month after re-signing with the Houston Astros -- was leading off second base after hitting an RBI double when Asheville pitcher Brandon Durden tried to pick him off.

Umpire Andy Russell called Clemens safe, sending Mikulik roaring out of the dugout and setting off a prolonged tirade that he carried all over the infield and into the dugout.

"I thought the strike was over," Mikulik told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "When will the real umpires show up? That's what I want to know. Because that was an abortion. That was bad. The whole series was awful."

Mikulik's antics started innocently enough with an animated argument with Russell, who then threw Mikulik out of the game.

Things quickly escalated after his ejection. Mikulik dove into second base, ripped up the bag and hurled it onto the infield dirt. He threw a resin bag into the bullpen, covered home plate with dirt and then cleaned it with a water bottle, which he finally spiked onto the plate.

Back in the dugout, he tossed several bats onto the field. And he didn't stop once he got to the clubhouse, according to team officials. Mikulik pushed a couple of water coolers, a chair and a batting practice screen in front of the umpires' locker room.

"I just wish the umpire's association would train their young men to have a personality," he said. "I could get two mannequins at Sears and umpire better than what I saw this whole series."

Despite redecorating half the infield, Mikulik said he's not worried about running into trouble with South Atlantic League president John Henry Moss.

"I already talked to John Henry, I've got that covered," he said. "This ain't my first rodeo. ... I didn't touch anybody. I never bumped anybody. ... I actually cleaned home plate for them, so they should give me a tip for that."

wow....just, wow.

[patsox]

hahahahaha

wow

[Moser316]

Saw the tantrum on SportsCenter this morning, and it looks to me like he's going to be getting an involuntary vacation pretty soon.

[slapshot]

I hope he gets a long suspension. He went beyond showing up the umpires.

I don't know how the umpires can just quietly stand there and take the abuse without giving any of it back to him, especially when he was right in their faces.

[paynomind]

I hope he gets a long suspension. He went beyond showing up the umpires.

I don't know how the umpires can just quietly stand there and take the abuse without giving any of it back to him, especially when he was right in their faces.

Umpire homer.

He followed the rules. He made no contact. It was fun.

[VitaminD]

While it was funny to watch, I found it more sad than funny.

The initial furor of the argument kept him going through his initial salvo - including diving into 2nd base. But he dragged it out soooooooooooo looooooooooooooooong that it became almost painful to watch. The sheer distance he covered and the number of things he did makes me think it was impossible that he was maintaining the ire that he had when he left the dugout. If that in fact the case, the rest of the tantrum reeks of contrived histrionics - like he said to himself, "WTF - this has already gotten me on SportsCenter, I may as well go whole hog and keep hamming it up."

From diving into 2nd, he then threw 2nd base - after trying unsuccessfully to pry it up 5 or 6 times. Then he went to the mound and threw the resin bag. Then his cap. Then he wound up at the plate and covered it. Then he kicked dirt at the umps... ... then he came back with a water bottle and crouched behind the plate. Then he spiked the water bottle... then he left for the dugout and threw some bats... then he left.

I mean, enough already dude! The act was stale halfway through. At least Piniella and Billy Martin kept it to one or two acts. I'm not sticking up for either side, but over those 5-10 minutes of his lunacy, it MUST have occurred to him that he looked like a fool but figured he could parlay it into some face time in an otherwise anonymous job.

[brinkeguthrie]

i was at the Pinella game where he tossed 2B into the outfield at riverfront..a classic.

but this guy just goes ON and ON.

we're looking a maybe the biggest suspension ever for a minor league mgr. he's re-written the book with this. If I was in charge of the ML's, I'd be scratching my head..this is uncharted territory. A standard skirmish with pitchers throwing at guys..OK. Bump the ump..OK.

But this was like nuking an entire country. We will see.

[Sport]

whenever I see something like this in the minor leagues my first thought is that it is a stunt. My dad was telling me as we were watching this on sportscenter that he used to attend Richmond Robins games. They were the minor league affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers in the 70's. He said that they would always pay some guy to get into a fake fight. He wasn't a real player, he wasn't on the roster, but he was in uniform. After the fight the cops would invariably run onto the ice and arrest this joker. He said they would either do that or they would give the coach an extra incentive to go on some kind of tirade after a bad call. That story alone makes me skeptical towards stuff like this in minor league sports.

[rvrdgsfn]

That was just too damn funny but in some cases, a lil worrysome. Knowing this guy is managing a ball club? But still, fun to watch.

[NJTank]

If I was Ashville Id consider firing him over that. If they had a good record maybe not but a display like that makes me wonder is he able to handle the job

[paynomind]

You guys must really enjoy your thrones.

I've never seen a bigger group of namby-pamby, judgemental, holier-than-thou whining, bithing, crybabys than you guys.

The guy threw a base and covered home plate with dirt.

"Nuked a whole country"

"Biggest suspension in the minors"

"Should be fired"

Idiots, every single one of you.

[NJTank]

I would not wnat this guy managing my team thats for sure throwing the base was fine but he carried it too far.

[brinkeguthrie]

You guys must really enjoy your thrones.

I've never seen a bigger group of namby-pamby, judgemental, holier-than-thou whining, bithing, crybabys than you guys.

The guy threw a base and covered home plate with dirt.

"Nuked a whole country"

"Biggest suspension in the minors"

"Should be fired"

Idiots, every single one of you.

The guy was entirely out of control and embarrassed the game and his employer.

Look at the video again. It was an endless show up of authority. I am the first one to enjoy a base-toss (I was in the crowd when Lou did it while with the Reds,) but this was over the top. In terms of deserving a suspension, this is a good as it gets.

And do me a favor, take your "idiot" classification somewhere else.

Last time I LOOKED, this forum existed for the SOLE PURPOSE of expressing one's opinion on sports news.

What I said earlier was MY opionion, no one else's, tho obviously shared by many (the local sports anchor just termed the guy a 'moron, would would want to follow this guy into battle?') -so if you feel like calling someone 'namby pamby,' why not offer up a specific defensible example?

[HedleyLamarr]

He should be suspended by the team.....for a game or two at most. He didn't do anything wrong, other than carry it out a lot longer than he could have. Give him a day or two to cool off and come back refreshed.

I've seen major league managers and players do worse, like throwing dirt or spitting on the umps, or chest-bump with them, and receive light penalties.

[slapshot]

I hope he gets a long suspension. He went beyond showing up the umpires.

I don't know how the umpires can just quietly stand there and take the abuse without giving any of it back to him, especially when he was right in their faces.

Umpire homer.

He followed the rules. He made no contact. It was fun.

Yeah, I guess it's a sore spot with me to see umpires berated like that.

I've seen plenty of arguments that have been funny. It's funny and sad to see a grown man throw an tantrum like that. Over nothing. A call that didn't go his way.

The parts I don't like involve either physical contact, or extreme in-your-face behavior when it's one-sided. I remember plenty of old clips of Earl Weaver, Sparky Anderson and Lou Piniella getting up close to an umpire, and the umpire verbally sparring back. Those were arguments. Two-sided arguments. Both sides had give and take. They seemed more for show than anything.

But this was just Mikulik in the face of both umpires, totally violating their own personal space. It's scary to see one person fly off the handle and be in someone's face, and have that other person stand there silently, or try to turn away and be followed.

The new crop of umpires that are coming up through the system are trained to be arbitrators, negotiators and crisis counselors. I think they should be allowed to at least tell the manager to "back off" or "stand down" or something like that. In a way it's frightening to see them become brick walls for some of the abuse that they get.

[rmered]

This made the ESPN Worldwide coverage as well.

I saw this last night and thought it was a put on.

There is no way he was that mad, for that long.

I therefore concluded it was something to generate interest in an otherwise irrelevant game.

I bet they get more fans to their next game he's coaching, whenever that might be.

The real shame is the sport obviously doesn't attract enough interest without people having to behave like nutbags like this bloke.

[HatCityEnforcer]

Guess he was going with the old addage of "if I'm gonna get tossed, I might as well make it worth my while"

It's like a bad car wreck on the highway, you can't help looking at it...

Yeah, he'll get suspended by the league...that's a given. I don't think there's any debate there...if the team wants to tack on, that's their perogative.

However, the comments afterwords? Pure comedy gold...

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

i saw some clips on the news about this, i couldn't stop laughing at him.

with El Dorado's weekly flame throwing and ashville's manager's temper tantrum we had 2 angry men in 2 hours. all we needed was 10 more angry men and we would have 12 angry men.

why do i have this sudden urge to watch 12 Angry Men with Henry Fonda.

[KevinMcD]

ESPN just said he was suspended 7 games and $1,000 by the league.

[The_Admiral]

You guys must really enjoy your thrones.

I've never seen a bigger group of namby-pamby, judgemental, holier-than-thou whining, bithing, crybabys than you guys.

The guy threw a base and covered home plate with dirt.

"Nuked a whole country"

"Biggest suspension in the minors"

"Should be fired"

Idiots, every single one of you.

I know. What a bunch of see-you-next-tuesdays we get every time someone in sports misbehaves.

I mean, things like a manager ordering the ball to be used as a weapon, endangering an innocent player, yeah that's one thing, but a grown man throwing a hissy fit should be something we all have a good laugh about, not turn into the Church Lady and say "HE SHOULD BE SUSPENDED A HUNDRED GAMES!"