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I was talking to my catcher once ... by CJC

and got kicked out of a baseball game I was managing.

In the semi-finals of a weekend tournament, the two-person umpiring crew had initially called an opposing batter/runner out for interference, the final out in what would have been a 1-run victory for us.

The opposing manager came out and beefed and the umpires reversed the call.

I exited our dugout and was immediately told -- and I mean immediately -- to get back in the dugout and the game was resuming.

You might imagine that I was a little bit chagrined that my counterpart not only had a chance to be heard on the field, but succeeded in persuading them to reverse their game-ending call while I didn't even get the courtesy of an explanation.

So the game resumed, with the bases loaded and two outs and our team still up by a run.

I proceeded to instruct our catcher, "Don't forget that on a third strike in the dirt, all you have to do is pick up the ball and step on home plate for a force out on the runner coming in from third -- although I'm sure we'll have to read that rule to the umpire out of the rule book."

I was summarily ejected, righteously.

I immediately left the dugout and went to find the tournament director to see if I would be disqualified from the next game due to the ejection. We actually won the game before I could get 25 feet from our diamond.

I found the guy and explained the situation. He laughed and said he was right to throw me out. I immediately agreed.

He then said I wouldn't be disqualified from the next game, and that they would use that as an example in their managers' meeting before the start of the next season.

So I call bullshit on "I wasn't talking to him/her."