A 72-year-old man working as an umpire for a USABL 13u baseball game suffered a broken jaw and required dental surgery after he was assaulted by a coach, league president Brian Delahunt said.
Last weekend, Delahunt said, the coach who was ‘built like a linebacker’ was witnessed to be drinking between games and was ejected from a baseball game after arguing an umpire’s call, which is prohibited under league rules.
After being assaulted, parents from the team said the umpire deserved to be brutally attacked.
“This coach, who is built like a linebacker, then proceeds to walk up to the 72-year-old veteran umpire with 35+ years of experience umpiring games and sucker punch him in the face,” Delahunt said. “The umpire’s jaw is fractured in 2 places, wired shut and requires extensive dental surgery. The coach fled the scene before police arrived like a coward. Even as police and EMT’s were providing medical attention to the umpire, other parents from the same team were heard shouting expletives at the umpire and saying things like he deserved it.”
After punching the umpire, the coach, who was not named fled the scene. The Branchburg Police Department is investigating the incident. At this time, no charges have been filed.
The elderly man’s jaw was wired shut as a result of the surgery.