Editorial

Baseball Dad In Florida Gets Slammed With Felony After Allegedly Straight Up Knocking Out Military Veteran Umpire

[YouTube/Screenshot/Public — FOX 35 Orlando]

Andrew Powell Sports and Entertainment Blogger
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What the heck, man?

A baseball dad in Florida allegedly sucker punched and knocked out an umpire — who also happens to be a veteran in the United States military — during his son’s high school baseball game, according to shocking footage from April.

After his son started mouthing off to the umpire and the 63-year-old official told the youth to calm down, the father, Jorge Ignacio Aponte-Gonzalez, 41, allegedly threw the punch, according to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.

Stunned at what was going on, players and parents ran over to the scene to provide aid to the umpire as he was obviously knocked out and laying on the field.

As far as Aponte-Gonzalez is concerned, he told police while they were arresting him that he was “defending [his] kid,” and according to officers, he showed no remorse. Police say that the umpire wants Aponte-Gonzalez to be prosecuted.

Booked into Osceola County jail on $1,500 bond, the baseball dad has been charged with battery on a sports official and disruption of a school function.

What on earth?

Look, I get it. We all love our kids, I know I love mine, but this is absolutely ridiculous. And newsflash to all of the parents out there (and this coming from a parent): Just because it’s your kid, doesn’t mean he or she is going to be the next Babe Ruth.

In this society, we have winners and we have losers, and unfortunately with how things work, most of us just end up as losers. It’s a bleak way of looking at things, but it’s true. Some of us end up rich and successful, while most of us end up as a member of the working class for the rest of our lives. And maybe ‘loser’ is a bad term for us peasants (yeah, I know, bad term there as well), but am I right … or am I right? (RELATED: Toronto Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Hits 450-Foot Home Run Over Green Monster)

Just because your kid sucks at baseball and has an attitude problem doesn’t mean you can go around knocking out umpires, man. If you can’t tell, people like this infuriate me.

Anyways, rant over. And at least this guy is in jail where he belongs.