MILWAUKEE – Veteran umpire Bob Davidson says he ejected a fan at Miller Park because the fan used a homophobic slur aimed at Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.
Davidson said he decided to throw out 44-year-old Sean A. Ottow of Waukesha, Wis., in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday night because he wanted to make sure Molina wouldn't do something to escalate the situation. Davidson spoke Wednesday before the series finale.
"Molina, I thought he was going to go toward (the fan) and I said, 'I'll take care of it,'" said Davidson, who was the plate umpire. "I was going to wait until between innings and not be so obvious, but I figured after he said that, he was very intoxicated, I needed to take care of it."
Molina has declined to discuss the ejection.
Ottow had said he had been talking to Molina all evening, but the umpires said several Brewers players mentioned how drunk Ottow seemed. When an usher asked Ottow to leave, he stood and posed with his arms in the air to cheers from fans.
Ottow was cited for disorderly conduct by police. In Milwaukee, that typically draws a $185 fine.
"I never swore at him," Ottow said while handcuffed to a bench on Miller Park's service level on Tuesday night. "He just got the umpire to throw me out. We were bantering back and forth and I guess Molina couldn't take it anymore.
"You'd think these guys would have tougher skin than that," he said.
In the second, Milwaukee manager Ken Macha was thrown out by second base umpire Tim Timmons, Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan was ejected from the dugout by Davidson in the third and Milwaukee center fielder Chris Dickerson was tossed by Davidson in the fifth before the fan's ejection.
The Brewers' 4-2 win over the Cardinals will be remembered because Trevor Hoffman earned his 600th career save, but Davidson laughed when asked about the crew making four ejections in one game.
"I thought it was great," he said.
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