PLAYER CHARGED WITH ASSUALT, BANNED

Oct. 1, 2016

A Michigan player in the 40 Division was charged with assault and banned from Senior Softball for life after chest-butting an official and poking him in the face at the World Masters Championships in Las Vegas.

In a separate incident, the manager of Gem City, a 50 Major team from Ohio that won its division, was suspended for 5 years for extreme unsportsmanlike conduct.

In the first incident, Charles Rose, a player with Firehouse Pub of Michigan, yelled obscenities at the umpire after the game was concluded.  When the Umpire in Chief (UIC), who had been watching the game, told Rose to “knock it off or he would not be playing again,” Rose ran from the field to where the UIC was standing behind the backstop and assaulted him, according to the complaint.

The Firehouse players and manager restrained Rose and walked with him to the parking lot.  The manager was suspended for a year for failing to restrain his players during the game. He is appealing the suspension.

In the second incident, the 50 Major manager of Gem City, Jamie Vickers, was originally ejected from the tournament for kicking dirt on an official.  He refused to leave until the director told him the police would escort him from the field.  Vickers left the field flashing the director the finger and shouting obscenities.

The next day, Vickers entered another ballpark with his team and was told he had been ejected from the tournament and must leave.  He again refused to leave until threatened with police escort.  Later Vickers snuck back into the park and into the dugout with his team and came out on the field with them for awards. 

Vickers was suspended one year for his actions after the initial ejection, one year for refusing to leave the field the next day and three years for defying the ejection order and sneaking back into the park a third time.  SSUSA officials said they opted not to forfeit the championship game because they felt Vicker’s actions should not result in a penalty for the whole team.