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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 10:46 a.m., Friday, July 11, 2008

Baseball: Manager suspended for throwing fit with ump

By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Sports Writer

A Kansas minor league baseball manager was suspended for four games today for an on-field tirade with an umpire that left him standing on the field in his red socks.

Wichita Wingnuts manager Kash Beauchamp was ejected in the second inning of Wednesday's doubleheader nightcap for arguing with umpire Blake Felix. The manager took exception to a strike call, threw down his hat and charged toward the plate from the third-base coaching box.

Beauchamp let loose a flurry of expletives at Felix as he approached, then went nose-to-nose with the umpire and bobbed his head as he continued screaming. He turned to kick the dirt around the plate, ripped off his shoe and showed it Felix, then pulled back his sleeve and shoved his armpit toward the umpire's face.

Beauchamp continued to argue, kicking off his other shoe and throwing down what appeared to be chewing tobacco before another umpire stepped between him and Felix. After slamming the second shoe to the turf, Beauchamp went over to the Wingnuts' dugout, fished out a batting doughnut from a bag, then paired it with another to make a mock pair of eyeglasses before slamming both weights down.

The tirade ended after about a minute, when Beauchamp retrieved his hat, shouted a few more choice words at Felix, then walked into the dugout after a bat boy retrieved his shoes.

Beauchamp did not return a message seeking comment Friday.

"It's weird. It just comes out of nowhere, the ejections and stuff," Beauchamp told The Wichita Eagle after the game. "When I'm gone, (my brain is) gone. All I know is somehow I ended up in my socks. I don't even know how I got into my socks. I was looking for my shoes and I had no idea where they were."

The Wingnuts went on to beat Sioux Falls 5-2 in the American Association game after Beauchamp left the field. He will be eligible to return to the field Tuesday, when the Wingnuts open a three-game series in Fort Worth. He also was fined an undisclosed amount.

The tirade was similar to one made by Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman last season that was widely circulated on the Internet.

During his wild tantrum, Wellman piled dirt on home plate, pulled up a base and chucked it across the field, then pantomimed a military crawl to the edge of pitcher's mound, where he picked up the rosin bag and pretended it was a grenade.

The Atlanta Braves suspended Wellman for three games. They brought him back this season to run the Double-A affiliate.