Watch: Ump ejected from indy league game after making contact with player

Every once in a while, something will take place on a baseball diamond that pretty much no one has ever seen. That's what happened Sunday when an umpire got himself booted from a Frontier League game between the New York Boulders and Tri-City ValleyCats.

In the first inning of the contest, first base umpire Warren Nicholson ejected Boulders second baseman Tucker Nathans. When Nathans chased after the ump to continue arguing, Nicholson turned and initiated contact with the player, appearing to hit Nathans in the stomach. Nicholson had to be restrained by his colleagues before being removed from the game and exiting the ballpark through the center-field fence.

The game was delayed for over an hour while the teams waited for a replacement umpire who lived near the stadium to arrive. It's unknown if the Frontier League will discipline Nicholson for his actions.

Incredibly, the umpire's "ejection" was merely one bizarre subplot of an unusually wild indy league affair. The saga began when ValleyCats manager Pete Incaviglia accused the Boulders of sign-stealing. Boulders president Shawn Reilly said Incaviglia, who spent 12 years in the majors with six teams, asked Nicholson to remove the Boulders' dugout tablet that he suspected was being used to relay signs he believed New York was stealing with the center-field camera.

"Your manager in Tri-City has been accusing us of stealing signs for three days, which is offensive and embarrassing at the same time," Reilly told Mark Singelais of the Times Union. "The umpire went over based on Pete, and he threw (Nathans) out, and things got out of control. It's unfortunate. It was not a good moment for the league. It was an embarrassing moment, and it should never have happened."

The Boulders eventually removed the camera and beat the ValleyCats 2-1. But even that wasn't the end of things, as the teams got involved in a benches-clearing skirmish following the final out, Singelais reports.