Top Tampa Bay Devil Rays prospect and Durham Bulls outfielder Delmon Young has been suspended indefinitely by the International League for throwing a bat at an umpire Wednesday night. Young struck out looking on a 2-1 pitch and did not agree with the unmpire's call. After exchanging words with the umpire, Young was ejected. After heading to the dugout he turned and threw the bat at the umpire. I emphasize "threw" not tossed.
The umpire, whose name has not been released, is a replacement umpire because the regular umpires are on strike. He was not injured. The bat hit him in the chest protector, narrowly missing his face.
The Bulls released a statement on Thursday, and so did Young. Young apologized for his actions.
It doesn't matter how much Young apologizes, he deserves to sit for a while. There are reports that the Devil Rays have been worried about Young's behavior for quite some time. If that is the case, then I hope this is a wake up call for the kid. I have had the pleasure to see him play and I must say that he is one of teh best I have ever seen.
Delmon Young will soon be a member of the group that will lead baseball out of the steroids era. So, the last thing that baseball needs is to end up in the same situation as the NBA after the Pistons/Pacers incident. If baseball is going to restore itself as the nation's purest sport, then it needs players like Young to lead the way.
The best thing for Young is to sit out for the rest of the season and work on his anger issues. In the heat of battle emotions can often get the best of you. But, a person must know the limits, and throwing a bat at an umpire is well beyond the limits. I'm sure Young is is a good guy. He lost his cool and deserves to sit for a while. Hopefully, we look back on this incident as an aboration. And, hopefully, Professional Baseball will nip this in the bud and this will be the only incident.
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