Major League Baseball games played Sunday, June 17, 2007: As on the immediately preceding day, Sunday also saw a total of four ejections, but this time three of those ejections occurred at the game I attended.

At Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, the Phillies were hosting the Detroit Tigers. Phillies third baseman Abraham Nunez had assured that Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander would not become the second major league pitcher to throw back-to-back no-hitters by stroking a line drive single to left center in the bottom of the second inning. Indeed, the Phillies were leading the Tigers 3-1 in the top of the seventh inning when Verlander was pulled for pinch hitter Gary Sheffield. Yet, before the Phillies had managed to record the final out in the top of the seventh, the Tigers had scored five times, with four runs charged to the Phillies bullpen, and four different Phillies pitchers had occupied the mound in that half inning alone.

The least effective of those four was Phillies relief pitcher Yoel Hernandes, who stuck around to surrender three more hits, and one more run, in the top of the eighth inning before being pulled by Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, to a sustained chorus of boos from the remaining crowd. Manuel brought in newly-acquired relief pitcher Jose Mesa. With runners on first and second and a count of 1-2, Tigers first baseman Marcus Thames appeared to go around just a bit too far on a check swing, but the third strike was neither called by home plate umpire Bill Welke nor did Welke appeal to first base umpire Laz Diaz. Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz then looked back to speak with Welke, and moments later was ejected from the game. That caused Ruiz to become very angry and go chest-to-chest with Welke, and perhaps even to push against Welke, causing Welke to put his hand on Ruiz's chest to separate himself a bit from the direct confrontation. Shortly thereafter, Charlie Manuel came onto the field, directed Ruiz back to the dugout, and began his own argument with Welke. Given the level of fan dissatisfaction with Manuel's bullpen moves in the top of the seventh inning, Welke gave Manuel a "mercy" ejection. After replacement catcher Rod Barajas had come onto the field the game appeared almost ready to resume, first base umpire Diaz walked down toward the Phillies dugout, where he then ejected someone. That someone turned out to be Phillies third base coach Steve Smith, who had apparently been mouthing-off to the first base umpire from the dugout during the same interruption. Of the three Phillies ejected, Smith really got his money's worth, as he stormed onto the field and attempted to confront Diaz and then, after being wrestled away by Charlie Manuel, attempted to confront Welke. Acting crew chief Wally Bell, who is at least as imposing a presence as Welke, helped restore order. As fate would have it, Thames struck out swinging on the very next pitch from Mesa. You can access the box score at this link, while MLB.com wraps are available here and here. Additional coverage is available from The Philadelphia Inquirer; The Philadelphia Daily News (here and here); The Detroit News; The Detroit Free Press; and The Associated Press.

The fourth and final ejection recorded Sunday occurred in Denver, where the Colorado Rockies hosted the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In the bottom of the seventh inning, home plate umpire Ted Barrett ejected Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon after Maddon complained to the umpire about balls and strikes following Maddon's visit to the mound to talk with the pitcher. A photo of the ejection appears here. You can access the box score at this link, while MLB.com wraps are available here and here. Additional coverage is available from The St. Petersburg Times; The Tampa Tribune; The Denver Post; The Rocky Mountain News; and The Associated Press.

Credit Bill Welke with two ejections, while both Laz Diaz and Ted Barrett should be credited with one ejection each. Adjust your umpire fantasy league standings accordingly.