Manager Phillip Wellman of the Mississippi Braves goes off!

[VAREB]

Some of you guys may have already seen this, but this is one that would put a smile on Earl Weaver's face.

Check out the link.

[muffdiver]

I put it in the baseball thread earlier....

[VAREB]

I put it in the baseball thread earlier....

Damn muff you must have just done it. I missed it. Sorry Sucka!

[muffdiver]

No, did it this morning.....I think it deserves it's own thread though, it's bloody funny..

[VAREB]

No, did it this morning.....I think it deserves it's own thread though, it's bloody funny..

He had to have thought about that before doing it. The hand grenade part has got to be one of the best of all time.

[muffdiver]

Yes,he musta been waiting for that opportunity...But who knows..?

Apparently he's gonna lose his job though...Is this correct....?

[Jesus H Christ]

This is classic...It's been to long since we've seen a good baseball meltdown. Good job Wellman

[VAREB]

Yes,he musta been waiting for that opportunity...But who knows..?

Apparently he's gonna lose his job though...Is this correct....?

I thought I saw where the Braves just suspended him for 3 games. Not sure if I caught that right. He got a game less than sweet Lou. Wellman was much more creative though. There's got to be a place in the bigs somewhere for this guy.

[ZeoBandit]

That is hilarious. What's up with crawling like a snake though?

[VAREB]

That is hilarious. What's up with crawling like a snake though?

He's sneaking up on the enemy before he tosses the grenade / rosen bag.

[ZeoBandit]

OK.....

[SuckaInA3Piece]

When I step down from my mod position here, this is how I wanna go out. LOL

[muffdiver]

Lol....

[VAREB]

Wellman just got 3 days.

AP) A major league meltdown by a minor league manager earned him a three-game suspension and worldwide fame on the Internet. Combining bits of Earl Weaver, Billy Martin and Lou Piniella, the weekend tantrum by Double-A manager Phillip Wellman prompted his bosses at the Atlanta Braves to take action Monday.

The Mississippi Braves manager went wild Friday during his team's 7-6 loss at Chattanooga. His tirade took him on a tour of the diamond as he covered home plate with dirt, threw a base and crawled on his belly.

Wellman and the club declined comment, spokesman Nicholas Skinner said.

A Southern League executive declined to talk about a likely suspension or fine.

"The league president is working on that right now," said Lori Webb, vice president of operations. "Obviously appropriate action will be taken, but nothing will be released to the public about that."

Braves general manager John Schuerholz tried to make short work of the suspension Monday.

"We decided that was the appropriate action to take," he said. "That's it. It's history. Now, we're moving forward."

But in the Internet age, nothing is history. Wellman's outburst has been replayed dozens of times on television and thousands of times on the Web.

Braves manager Bobby Cox, who called Wellman one of his favorite people in the Atlanta organization, said he's seen the clip at least 50 times.

And Braves catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said the meltdown caught him by surprise. In a few months under Wellman this season, he'd never seen the manager display such theatrics.

"It got a lot of laughs in here," Saltalamacchia said. "Maybe he went over the line a little bit. Who knows? But he's going to do whatever it takes for his players."

Wellman came storming out of the dugout after the plate umpire ejected pitcher Kelvin Villa for apparently using a foreign substance.

Wellman threw his hat, then began shouting and framing the face of the umpire with his hands about 6 inches apart.

After that, he got down on one knee, piled dirt on home plate and used a finger to outline the shape of the plate. He stalked to third base, pulled up the bag and walked toward second, then tossed third base into the outfield.

Then he dropped on his belly and pantomimed a military crawl to the edge of pitcher's mound, where he picked up the rosin bag. He pretended it was a grenade, pulled an imaginary pin with his teeth and launched it toward the plate umpire, hitting his left foot.

Wellman motioned that he was ejecting the umpire, picked up second base, walked into the outfield and picked up the bag he'd tossed. He walked toward the outfield gate with both bases.

Before leaving the field, he turned, blew kisses to the wildly cheering crowd, waved his fist in salute, then left.

ESPN played extensive segments of the tirade through the weekend and the video has been viewed more than 61,000 times on YouTube.com.

"Phil's a great guy," Cox said. "He's outstanding. You used to see that all the time in the minors. The game's changed now. You don't do that anymore

Good for the Braves and baseball. Sometimes a manager's just got to vent. It's good for baseball just like bumping, fighting and arguning are good for NASCAR.

All this "what does it say about the sport " bullshit is just that. It says Wellman got pissed about a call, blew a fuse, got it out of his system and entertained thousands in the process. No harm no foul. At least he's not holding it inside to the point where he's ready to bring a AK-47 to the next home game.

[SuckaInA3Piece]

I thought it was hilarious. A bit childish? Yes, but it wasn't as childish as two grown men fighting in the dugout.