I'm sure this ain't the first time, but a fan was ejected from a game by umpire Bob Davidson for heckling a player. Sean Ottow, a Brewer fan, was heckling Cardinals' catcher Yadier Molina. Davidson had a mean streak already going in ejecting a number of players and managers that game, so a fan was what was needed to complete the day. Maybe that counts for "hitting for the cycle" in umpire dialect. Maybe ejecting a fan is like that final triple needed.
I found two brief accounts of the incident here and here. One thing the fan claimed is that he never swore at Molina. But, he was cited for disorderly conduct by the police.
I'm wondering what he said and for how long. I've also had extended time periods of heckling players - like nine innings a day over a four game series - and I've never been ejected. But maybe it's like my friend Mike says, we'd be tossed in jail today for some of the things we said back in the 80's. I'm also wondering if his citation was a direct result of being tossed by the ump. Would he have been cited if the ump never tossed him? And since he got a standing ovation from the crowd, one wonders how disorderly he actually was. They all seemed to enjoy him. Now for a serious question. Will he be banned from future Brewers games by management? Loss of season tickets? Could any of this happen to a fan simply because an ump had a bad day? What role can a player have in getting a fan tossed? One time, I was heckling a rookie and he called time out and jogged in to the third base ump and pointed out at me. The ump shrugged his shoulders, and then he really caught it from the whole bleacher section for the rest of the game.
It will be interesting to see if this is the last thing to be heard on this incident.
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