College umpire is suspended after ending a New Orleans-Mississippi Valley State game on a third strike called ‘awful’ in apparent retaliation for the batter’s criticism
A college baseball umpire has been suspended indefinitely following a decisive third-strike decision that many viewed as erroneous and retaliatory.
Mississippi Valley State lost a road game to the University of New Orleans on Friday night, 7-3, when Delta Devils left fielder Davon Mims was called for strikeouts to end the top of the ninth.
Mims visibly took issue with a called second strike, which appeared to be well below his knees, and reacted by jumping out of the batter’s box to show his displeasure.
The next pitch went even further out of the strike zone, and Mims held easily, but was hit in what one announcer described as a “horrible” call. Mims, who had just regained his composure after the second called strike, broke out before being contained by New Orleans Privateers catcher Jorge Tejeda.
Although the Southland Conference did not identify the home plate umpire by name in Saturday’s statement, the scorecard lists Reggie Drummer in that role in New Orleans on Friday.
Davon Mims visibly took issue with a called second strike, which appeared to be well below his knees, and reacted by jumping out of the batter’s box to show his displeasure.
The next pitch went even further out of the strike zone, and Mims held easily, but was hit in what one announcer described as a “horrible” call. Mims, who had just regained his composure after the second called strike, broke out before being contained by New Orleans Privateers catcher Jorge Tejeda.
After a thorough review of the New Orleans and Mississippi Valley State baseball contest on March 10, 2023, the Southland Conference confirmed that the home plate umpire’s conduct and actions were deemed detrimental to the Conference and in violation of Section 3 CCA Character and Conduct Baseball Mechanics Manual,’ the conference statement read.
“As a result, the umpire has been removed from the series and has been indefinitely suspended from Southland Conference baseball games.”
Even before the suspension, fans and the media were calling for a ban.
“What’s going on?” former Orioles pitcher Ben McDonald tweeted. ‘This referee should be suspended! There is no way a game should end like this just because a referee is holding a grudge!
Mims is one of MVS’s best hitters, hitting .331 with a .375 on-base percentage with seven extra-base hits in the young season.
ESPN+ announcers also seemed to be sympathetic to Mims at the time.
“That’s down,” the announcer said on the called third strike. ‘Oh my God! Wow! He crumpled on ball two and the game was over! Oh my gosh, that’s awful!
“The ref just wanted to go home.”
MVS fell to 6-7 with the loss after riding a three-game winning streak.
They were scheduled to play in New Orleans again on Saturday.
Mims is one of the best hitters on the team, hitting .331 with a .375 on-base percentage with seven extra-base hits in the young season.
Although the Southland Conference did not identify the home plate umpire by name in Saturday’s statement, the scorecard lists Reggie Drummer in that role in New Orleans on Friday.
