Video shows Abilene youth baseball coach assaulting umpire during game in North Texas
A video from a youth baseball game in The Colony has gone viral. And it’s not because of a great play.
The video, which was filmed at a game on Saturday, shows a coach arguing a call at home plate before quickly getting ejected by the home plate umpire. The coach then pushed the umpire to the ground and walked back to his dugout.
Umpire Sam Phelps told KDFW/Ch. 4 he filed a police report for assault against the coach. Phelps was scanned for a concussion and released from a hospital Saturday night.
The incident occurred at the Five Star Baseball Complex in The Colony. Phelps has been umpiring for 15 years.
The coach, who is from Abilene, told KDFW that he “hopes he can one day shake Phelps’ hand and apologize.”
“I don’t want to destroy anyone’s life,” Phelps said. “But I would like this to be a learning opportunity to get this out there.”
The select tournament organization 24 Sports has banned the coach and his team from participating in future tournaments.
“I ejected him, and I held up my hand and said, ‘We aren’t doing this, Coach,’” Phelps said. “And then he held up his hand to mock me saying, ‘Oh, we aren’t doing this.’ And then he shoved me right in the face, and I fell backwards and hit my head. And I was down for a while.”
According to a witness, Phelps was on the ground for more than 10 minutes. An ambulance arrived and paramedics put him on a stretcher and took him to the hospital.
Meanwhile, the coach got in his car and left.
“If there are no consequences, this can continue,” Phelps said.
This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 6:55 PM.
