Minor League Manager Goes Ape, Throws Massive Wad of Dip onto Home Plate

We’ve seen infield sit-ins and rosin bags thrown like hand grenades in the minor leagues, but even Phil Wellman would stare in awe at the messy stunt recently pulled by independent league baseball manager Rick Forney.

Forney, manager of the Winnipeg Goldeyes, was ejected from a game earlier this week after an argument with umpires led to him defiling home plate. Standard day at the ballpark, right?

Wrong.

Forney went ape-town, kicking dirt over home plate and Gronk-spiking a fat wad of long cut on the dish as if it were a compost pile. Video of Forney’s meltdown was picked up by Ty Duffy of The Big Lead, and—spoiler alert—he is baby crazy.

Let's survey the scene, shall we?

It’s a cool Canadian summer night, gut-bucket rock music is playing, and the crowd at Shawn Park is wailing for blood. In other words, it’s the ideal climate for an unforgettable manager meltdown.

Forney is sticking it to the umpires and giving it good. I’ve yet to find an official source confirming the reason for the argument, but fan tweets indicate the manager was upset over the narrow slit the umpire was giving Goldeye pitchers for a strike zone.

"

Loving Goldeyes Manager Rick Forney sticking up for his pitchers strike zone! Well worth the toss!!! #letsgomattiej

— Courtney Wagner (@ckwagner29) August 4, 2013"

This strike zone will not do. We have rules in this game, and we have men like Forney to stand up for them. Unfortunately for the Goldeyes manager, however, the rules also allow umpires to toss him from the ballpark.

An umpire ejects Forney from the game, and that’s when the magic occurs. After some bumping and grunting about the infield, the Goldeyes manager shambles over to home plate and begins kicking dirt.

The crowd enjoys the move but not as much as it loves the following tobacco spike. Like the man who just discovered the wheel, a light goes off in Forney’s head and he reaches into his mouth. Out comes the wad of dip and down it goes onto the plate.

It was disgusting. It was awesome. It was minor league baseball in a nutshell.

Join me on Twitter—it's noisier, ruder but less messy than the ballpark.

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