MILTON, Ga. — An investigation is underway after a travel baseball coach appeared to punch an 80-year-old umpire during a highly-touted summer baseball tournament in Milton.
The umpire, 80-year-old Fred Miller, spoke with 11Alive's Cody Alcorn on Thursday and explained he was pressing charges against the coach.
The incident happened in a Perfect Game tournament game at Milton High School between the 18-year-old teams of the East Cobb Astros and the Reign on Sunday, June 16. The coach accused of throwing the punch is a member of the Reign travel baseball team, which, according to Perfect Game, is a high-level travel baseball program for amateur baseball players in metro Atlanta.
Milton Police initially responded after officers were called to the field following the incident; however, initially, Miller did not want to press charges. Miller told 11Alive that after speaking with fellow umpires and hearing their thoughts, he changed his mind and is now opting to press charges.
In the video, a few of the players on the Reign seem to be gathered near the first-base dugout, with the umpire standing close to the first-base bag. Miller's son told 11Alive that a player was arguing a call with the umpire. That's when the coach appeared to walk out of the dugout toward the umpire, where it seemed they had a brief exchange of words.
The umpire then appears to turn away from the coach. That's when the coach appears to punch the umpire in the back. The umpire then walks toward home plate and makes the signal that the game was abruptly over due to what happened. The Reign was leading East Cobb 3-2 in the bottom of the third inning at the time, but the game was called to give East Cobb a 2-0 win, according to Perfect Game's website.
You can watch the incident play out below:
Miller released the following statement Thursday night to 11Alive:
"Coaches and sport parents all need to understand these games are for the kids and not about themselves or the umpires. We the umpires are the judges or principals and need to be always respected because the kids are seeing how they respect us or not and goes a long way in showing how they should conduct themselves as adults!"
Because the incident happened on Fulton County Schools property, Fulton County Schools Police are now handling the investigation. They confirmed with 11Alive that an investigation is underway but did not release any further statement.
The coach who allegedly punched the umpire was also a part-time assistant baseball coach at the Galloway School in Atlanta. The school said he is now no longer employed by the school following an internal investigation after learning of his allegations. The school said he did not hold a faculty position at the school but that they "take these allegations very seriously."
"At Galloway, we hold all staff and faculty to the highest standards of conduct, both on and off the field," the school said in a statement.
Perfect Game, meanwhile, is one of the largest amateur baseball organizations in the United States and helps promote high school baseball players in front of MLB scouts and college baseball coaches.
The organization released the following statement regarding the incident:
"While we intend to launch a full investigation into this incident, Perfect Game condemns any type of physical assault on an umpire or any other field personnel or those attending our events. These actions are reprehensible and undermine the integrity of sportsmanlike conduct and the family-friendly atmosphere that should always surround a youth sports event. Perfect Game prides itself on fostering a safe environment that promotes respect for others and will not tolerate these types of incidents."
11Alive has reached out to Fulton County Schools Police to obtain warrants regarding the incident.