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.

Changing the blueprint?

The Wild Things announced the signing of seven players to contracts during a two-day period last week. Nothing surprising about that. Mid-to-late April is the busy period for Frontier League transactions. Plus, first-year manager Darin Everson said he wants to bring 32 players to spring training, and he was more than a dozen short of his goal.

Several things, however, stand out about the signings of pitchers Matt Vieira, Jeff Sonnenberg, Kevin Hammons, Matt Lyons and Ben Rodewald, ultilty player Joel Hartman and infielder Devin Murphy. One is that six of the seven are rookies (Hartman is an L1), according to Frontier League standards. Washington still has open L2 and Veteran roster spots. The second noteworthy thing is where the new players come from. Only two of the seven have experience in affiliated ball, which often seemed to be a requirement for players on past Wild Things teams.

Of the seven newcomers, Vieira and Hammons played in the Florida Marlins' system, in which Everson did his coaching the past four years. Hammons, however, last played in affiliated ball in 2007, when he played for Everson in the New York-Penn League. Hammons posted an 0-2 record with Gateway of the Frontier League in 2008, his last year in pro ball.

“I saw some improvement on Kevin’s delivery from our time together in the past, and he seems very focused and determined to become an impact left-hander on the mound for us,” Everson said.

Hartman spent the last two years playing in independent ball in Texas, and his numbers were quite good last season (.290 with 40 stolen bases in 55 games).

This is what we know about the other four guys:

- Rodewald: Drafted out of high school but did not sign. Played at Central Michigan University but his last season there was 2007.

- Lyons: Played the last two years in a sandlot league.

- Sonneberg: Played winter ball in Australia.

- Murphy: Also has no pro experience, having last played in college in 2008.

Those aren't your typical Wild Things backgrounds. That doesn't mean these guys can't play. What it does tell me is either there were fewer cuts than normal by affiliated teams this spring or Everson is thinking outside the box – working without Washington's previous blueprint. In past years, the Wild Things were heavy on players who had affiliated experience, were natives of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey and/or were released by the Pirates, Phillies, Mets and Astros. You could almost correctly guess who they were trying or not trying to sign.

Who knows if any of these guys will make it to opening day. Vieira, however, looks lock a lock to make the team while Hartman and Sonnenberg – who was dominant pitcher for a very good NAIA school – seem to have a solid chance to stick around this summer. We do know that the Wild Things aren't rejecting players because they live outside the Eastern time zone or have no experience in affiliated ball.