It Is Happening Again -- Now With Pictures!

While the purpose of this blog is to highlight Minor League promotions and game operations, every so often I must shift my focus to on-field occurrences. Well, every so often is now.

Because last night, for the second time this season, players were called upon to serve as field umpires. The first time this happened this season was April 23 in Greensboro. Here's an excerpt from my MiLB.com article that explained the situation:

This rare, but not unprecedented, occurrence was the result of a scary event that took place in the sixth inning. Home plate umpire Koyu Inoue was struck in the head by a foul ball and knocked unconscious, and the ballgame was delayed for 47 minutes while he was attended to on the field. Inoue was taken to a hospital for observation, but returned to the ballpark later in the evening.

When play resumed, field umpire Jason Hutchings moved behind home plate. Taking his place in the field were a pair of pitchers -- Brandon Todd of the Grasshoppers and Adam Jorgenson of the Tourists.

Now, let's move on to what happened yesterday. In the seventh inning of a game between Winston-Salem and visiting Myrtle Beach, home plate umpire Andy Dudones had to leave the ballgame after taking a foul ball off his right hand. Field umpire Will Little then moved behind the plate, and field umpire duties were assigned to Robert Marcial of the Pelicans and the Dash's Christian Marrero.    

And now, let's take a look at further photographic evidence!

(Thanks to Dash marketing manager Caleb Pardick for sending these along. All photo credits: Cristine Maybourne/Winston-Salem Dash)

Incidentally, the Dash trounced the Pelicans in this contest by a score of 15-3. Perhaps Winston-Salem's offensive onslaught was a response to the merciless, grammar-related taunting they endured last week in Myrtle Beach.

In closing, I would like to point out that the title of this post was inspired by this:



I would love to see a team stage a "Salute to Twin Peaks" promotion. Any takers?

benjamin.hill@mlb.com