Player Cursed At Me, Did I Handle It Correctly?
Perfect Game Tournament 16u Pool Play
Top 6th, 9-4 Away Team
Player takes strike three high in the zone. As he’s walking away he says (so only the catcher and I can hear) “That’s fucking terrible. You cannot make that fucking call.” I take a moment to make a note of the player and game situation.
After the half inning ends I intercept the manager on his way back to the dugout. I tell him “#99 Smith cursed at me after I punched him out. This is a warning to your entire team.” The manager goes back to the dugout and immediately substitutes the player out.
This game was pretty mellow until this, so I didn’t feel the need to immediately eject the player. He didn’t show me up or raise his voice, didn’t insult me or get personal. I don’t want to make the behavior seem acceptable, but I didn’t want to blow the game up with an ejection. What would you have done?