Coach is charged for alleged ump slap

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By Thomas Geyer and Dustin Lemmon | Friday, July 21, 2006 1:44 AM CDT | () comments

A 48-year-old Moline Little League coach has resigned after he was arrested on charges that he slapped an 18-year-old umpire during a championship baseball game.

Daniel Vice of Moline was arrested by East Moline police on a battery complaint, but he had not been charged in court as of Thursday afternoon. He posted $100 bond and was released.

The incident happened at 8:36 p.m. Wednesday at Northeast Park, 3011 4th Ave., East Moline.

According to police, Vice didn’t like a call on a play in which one of his players was called out. He allegedly slapped the umpire, Tony Holland, in front of several witnesses, including kids, East Moline police Lt. John Reynolds said.

Reynolds said the umpire’s face turned red and there may have been some swelling, but he was otherwise uninjured. He said police have not had any prior incidents involving Vice or the coaches of the other Little League teams.

“They have to realize that it’s a game and it is an 18-year-old umpire and he has the final say,” Reynolds said. “There are other ways to handle it, obviously and it’s not taking the matter into her own hands.”

A message left at Vice’s home Thursday night seeking comment was not returned.

Dave Nowack, East Moline Little League president and umpire chief, was umpiring behind home plate during the game Wednesday. It involved the district championship between Moline National and Moline American, which was won by National. Vice was third-base coach for American. The league is for 9- and 10-year-olds.

The incident occurred in the final inning with American trailing 8-4, he said. There was one out. Vice’s son was on third base and there was another runner on second base. The next batter hit the ball into the outfield, he said. The ball was caught for the second out, but both runners tagged up and scored.

“My third-base umpire, Tony Holland, ruled that (the younger) Vice took off too early from third base. He didn’t tag up, and called him out,” Nowack said.

That is when Daniel Vice “walked onto the field and told my umpire, ‘You can’t make that call,’ ” Nowack said. “Holland pointed and told him to get off the field. Vice hit him in the face. It left a handprint on his face.”

Because of the call, those two runs were not counted, and National won 8-4.

“I had to go grab (Daniel) Vice and bring him away from third base,” Nowack said. “I told him, ‘You’ve go to go to the dugout.’ ”

Nowack said that he sent a letter about the incident to the Little League Central Region in Indianapolis. The Central Region then will make a report and send it on to the National Little League office in Williamsport, Pa.

“Williamsport will make a decision on what to do,” he said. “They could ban him from coaching, or even ban him from attending any Little League games as a parent.”

After the game, Nowack told everyone, “This cannot happen on any playing field. This is not right.”

Ken Ferris of Bettendorf, a 30-year veteran of umpiring, said his daughter and son-in-law witnessed the incident. “We like to see young umpires coming up and we don’t want to see incidents like this that’ll make them want to get out,” Ferris said.

Edward Handley of Milan, Ill., serves as district administrator for Little League’s Illinois District 5, which includes the Illinois Quad-Cities. He happened to be at Wednesday night’s game.

“I saw the third-base coach slap the third-base umpire,” Handley said. “Then, the adults started out on the field, coaches on the opposing team got (Vice) away. I was way out in left field behind the fence. The first thing I hollered was, ‘Hey, you can’t be doing that.’ I couldn’t believe that was happening.”

Handley said he talked to Holland after the game and said “he was quite upset and I don’t blame him.”

Handley himself umpired for 44 years and encountered many tense moments with coaches but never felt threatened. And even though he said problems like Wednesday night’s incident cannot be tolerated, he feels bad for Vice.

“I have been around baseball for a long, long time, and I am sure he is more hurt, mentally, than the umpire, although I am sure (Holland) is upset. What happened, happened. It is just unfortunate it did happen. I am sure (Vice) is sorry.”

Handley now must wait to see what will take place next.

“I let the local leagues handle their problems. If they can’t handle it, I will step in,” he said. “I don’t know what will happen. I am waiting for the (national) Little League office, for them to call me.”

Jack Burns, president of Moline Little League, said in a news release: “Mr. Vice deeply regrets the incident and has resigned from Moline Little League.”

Vice was ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct, Burns added.

“Moline Little League has been a charter member of Little League for over 50 years and this is the first time anything like this has ever occurred,” Burns said. “Moline Little League is deeply saddened by the events and the affect it has had on all the parties involved.”

Meanwhile, Patti Christensen, a social worker with Family Resources, Davenport, said anger can be useful, but can be unhealthy when it’s not controlled. She also noted that the incident occurred during a game. “Baseball ought to be a recreation,” she said. “This ought to be fun.”

The incident could have a negative affect on the kids who witnessed it, she said, saying it can impact everyone differently. “I would hope they’d do an intervention with the kids. I think the kids could be debriefed.”

Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.

Dustin Lemmon can be contacted at (563) 383-2493 or dlemmon@qctimes.com.