Now, this is an odd one. At Wednesday's game between the Fort Myers Miracle and the Daytona Cubs, home plate umpire Mario Seneca ejected the Cubs intern deejay, Derek Dye. What was Dye's offense? After a questionable call, Dye played "Three Blind Mice" on the club's audio system, and the umpire ejected him from the game.
The play in question came when Cubs first baseman Taylor Davis scooped a ball out of the dirt, and it came out of his glove when he was going to throw it around the diamond after the play. But umpire Ramon Hernandez ruled batter Andy Leer safe, claiming that Davis had actually bobbled the ball. This led to an argument between Hernandez and Daytona manager Brian Harper, and after Harper left the field, Dye played the song, and Seneca booted him from the game, along with the PA announcer for the Cubs. Cubs radio announcer Robbie Aaron thought the call on the field was merely questionable, and not egregious. Harper didn't even get ejected from the game for arguing the call, but yet, the music man was tossed.
Dye claims that this was the first time he's ever played the song in the game, normally opting for a soundbite from the Ace Ventura series of movies. Dye took to Twitter and seemed to take the ejection in stride.
If nothing else, I have a new pick-up line… "Hey, my name's Derek and I've been ejected from a pro baseball game." It's bulletproof.
— Derek Dye (@DerekDye) August 2, 2012
#ThatAwkwardMoment when the Umpire who tossed me tonight is umpiring tomorrow's game.— Derek Dye (@DerekDye) August 2, 2012
Am I really the lead story on Twitter? Must be a slow news night…
— Derek Dye (@DerekDye) August 2, 2012
I've actually heard of this happening before, in a 1985 Clearwater Phillies game where organist Wilbur Snapp played the song and was tossed. That doesn't make it any less ridiculous. You want to talk about an umpire with a power trip, look no further than right here. I understand that the umpire was probably irritated about fun getting poked at him in this situation, but that's just it: it's fun. You don't go to a baseball game to watch the umpires, you go to watch the players play the game and have a good time. Lighten up a little bit.
UPDATE: Video of the incident is below.
