Venezuelan Postseason Ejections: Edward Pacheco (Fight)

Imperfect game pitcher Armando Galarraga & Alex Cabrera were ejected for fighting in Venezuela Sunday.

Umpires are shoved aside early on.

HP Umpire Edward Pacheco ejected Tiburones de la Guaira 1B Alex Cabrera and Leones del Caracas P Armando Galarraga for fighting (Unsportsmanlike-NEC) in the top of the 3rd inning of the Tiburones (Sharks)-Leones (Lions) game. With two out and one on and following a Joe Thurston RBI double to right field, Cabrera took a 1-0 fastball inside for a hit by pitch. Replays indicate the inside pitch that struck Cabrera's thigh followed a previous inside pitch near Cabrera's waist; the bench clearing incident began after a verbal dispute while Cabrera was on first base, the call was irrecusable. At the time of the ejections, the score was tied, 1-1. The Lions (Caracas) ultimately won the contest, 11-1.

Wrap: Tiburones de la Guaira vs. Leones del Caracas (Venezuela Winter Baseball Playoffs), 1/5/13
Video: After two inside pitches, Cabrera thinks he's being thrown at and a fight breaks out on the infield

In a related story, "Nobody's Perfect," the book co-authored by Galarraga and umpire Jim Joyce, is presently selling on Amazon.com for the price of $0.01.

In an unrelated story, a different feline team—the Dominican Winter League's Tigres del Licey—hired "cat" Jose Offerman over the weekend as former manager Mike Guerrero's replacement, the announcement made by General Manager Manny Acta.

Offerman previously was arrested for charging and striking Bluefish pitcher Matt Beech and catcher John Nathans with a bat during a bench clearing fight on August 14, 2007. After his ejection and arrest, the independent Atlantic League suspended Offerman indefinitely while Nathans filed a $4.8 million civil suit against Offerman, claiming post-concussion syndrome and a premature end to his baseball career thanks to the injurious actions of Offerman. Criminally, Offerman initially pleaded not guilty to multiple second degree assault charges before receiving two years of special probation known as "Accelerated Rehabilitation," the Bridgeport, CT Superior Court reasoning that Offerman was unlikely to reoffend.

Less than three months removed from probation, however, Offerman threw a punch at first base umpire D.J. Reyburn in the Dominican Winter League on January 16, 2010. Following the on-field assault, Reyburn and fellow American umpires working the 2009-10 Dominican League resigned and returned to the United States while the League issued a lifetime ban to Offerman. In February 2013, Lidom rescinded its lifetime ban of Offerman, paving the way for his return to Licey. Offerman had been serving as interim manager, replacing Dave Jauss, also suspended for bumping an umpire during the playoffs.