Outfielder Álex Romero last played in the majors over a decade ago, spending the 2008-09 seasons with the Diamondbacks, putting up a forgettable .239/.279/.339 triple-slash line over 299 plate appearances. What he did on Wednesday during a Venezuelan winter league game will not be forgotten.
Tensions rose during Wednesday’s game between Caribes de Anzoátegui and Águilas del Zulia. The benches had already cleared and order had temporarily been restored -- following a number of ejections -- when Romero took his place in the batter’s box against Ángel Nesbitt in the eighth inning. With a 3-0 count in a 13-1 game, Nesbitt threw a fastball behind Romero. Romero immediately swung his bat at catcher Gabriel Lino. He swung the bat again before dashing away as the benches emptied once again.
Here’s the video, via Daniel Álvarez Montes of El Extrabase:
Insólito. pic.twitter.com/Y5OWQwEtgr
— Daniel Álvarez-Montes (@DanielAlvarezEE) January 9, 2020
The ejections:
- 7th inning: DH Jairo Perez (Águilas), 2B Yosmany Guerra (Águilas), manager Jackson Melian (Caribes), DH Denis Phipps (Caribes)
- 8th inning: 1B Willians Astudillo (Caribes), C Gabriel Lino (Caribes), P Ángel Nesbitt (Caribes), Cesar Valera (Caribes), P Luis Rengel (Caribes), P Álex Romero (Águilas)
Caribes went on to win, 13-2. It will be interesting to see what kind of punishment gets handed down to Romero for his arguably criminal actions.
