Wild day in the Windy City

Perhaps it was a case of poor umpiring. Maybe it was the wrong thing being said at the wrong time. Or maybe it was just old-fashioned rage that boiled over, the result of the Wild Things' maddening start to the Frontier League season.

Whatever it was, it set off Washington manager Darin Everson (pictured in a game earlier this month) during the seventh inning Monday afternoon at Windy City.

Recapping the call of WJPA Radio's Randy Gore, here's what happened:

Washington relief pitcher Ben Rodewald walked Windy City's leadoff hitter in the bottom of the seventh. The first pitch to the next batter, Ryne White, was called a ball.

After the pitch to White, home-plate umpire Jeff Spisak took off his mask and began pointing toward the Wild Things' dugout. Spisak then turned around and play was set to resume. Just before Rodewald could throw his next pitch, Spisak called timeout, turned again toward the Wild Things' dugout, pulled his mask off and ejected Everson, who bolted onto the field to argue. Before leaving, Everson did his best Billy Martin impersonation, covering home plate by kicking dirt over it. Everson apparently reached his breaking point.

According to the radio call, Spisak was clapping as Everson left the field. Obviously, I wasn't there to know if Spisak was clapping in a manner as if to say "OK, let's play ball, guys," or to say "I'm glad I got rid of you. Good riddance." Spisak then followed Everson back toward the dugout (at Standard Bank Stadium, you have to exit through the dugout to get to the clubhouse).

The situation became even more bizarre when, before the next pitch, White asked Spisak to clean home plate. According to one source, Spisak refused to clean the plate, so White "suggested" that the umpire should to do his job. Spisak quickly ejected White.

The count was two ejections -- one for each team -- without a pitch being thrown.

***

I still love going to the games. I still walk into the ballpark, football stadium, gymnasium or arena sure that I'm going to see something that night I’ve never seen before in my life. That hope is one of the things that keeps me coming back.

Had I been at the Wild Things' game Monday, I would have seen something in the top of the first inning that I had never seen before. Windy City starting pitcher Andrew Werner had a case of wildness in the inning, hitting Chris Sidick with a pitch to start the game, walking three batters and throwing a wild pitch. Washington also stole two bases in the inning.

When the inning ended, the Wild Things didn't have a run.

Think about that: a hit batsman, three walks, a wild pitch and two stolen bases in one inning and no runs. The inning went like this: hit batsman, strikeout, stolen base, caught stealing, walk, stolen base, walk, wild pitch, walk, flyout.