A major league umpire had an eventful series during his time in Philadelphia last week.
Umpire Brock Ballou was robbed and assaulted while in town for the Phillies series against the Diamondbacks, as Tom Dougherty and Joe Holden of CBS News Philadelphia reported.
Police said that Ballou was one of two individuals robbed by the same suspect. In his case, the suspect grabbed Ballou’s cell phone while he was looking at directions and ran off. Ballou then reportedly chased the suspect, resulting in a physical altercation where he was punched in the head several times after the two ended up on the ground. His cell phone was recovered by someone else and returned, while his injuries were not considered serious. Ballou continued to work during the series, umpiring at first base the following night and behind the plate two days after the incident.
Latest incident adds another layer to Philadelphia sports reputation
Although this incident was likely random and not targeted due to Ballou being a major league umpire, it does nothing to help Philadelphia’s reputation. Incidents such as the Phillies as a team subjecting Jackie Robinson to severe taunting, including racial slurs, throwing batteries at outfielder J.D. Drew in 1999 or pelting Santa Claus with snowballs and sandwiches in 1968 are among the long list of incidents involving the teams and fans. Those behaviors got to a point where Veteran’s Stadium had an official courtroom and jail from 1997 through 2003.
Ballou had an unexpectedly eventful time in Philadelphia. However, his painful experience did not come at the stadium.