The Intercounty Baseball League is investigating after the London Majors left the field during Game 4 of their semi-final series against the Toronto Maple Leafs due to alleged racial slurs.
IBL Commissioner John Kastner says, on Wednesday around 8:35pm, both teams cleared the benches and rushed into the field during the middle of the fourth inning following a close play at third base. He says there was a great deal of verbal exchange between the two teams, but a "brawl" did not occur.
"After order was restored, there was a conversation between the umpires and the London manager, and he made an allegation that there were some racial slurs that [were said] during the bench clearing," he says.
After deliberation, Kastner says the umpires decided there were no grounds to delay the game further.
"London was very upset about that decision, that there was no action taken as a result of the alleged racial slurs, and they pulled their team off the field," he says.
The game was delayed for over an hour while Kastner spoke with the umpires over the phone. It wasn't until around 9:45pm when the decision was finally made to return to the field to finish the game.
"Right or wrong, my first and only priority was to get the game play to completion," he says. "I know that the rules say that if a team leaves the field... they've got five minutes to return or the game is forfeited."
However, he says there will be a "significant" investigation into what took place.
"At the end of that investigation, if the allegations about racial slurs are proven to be true, we'll act on these accordingly," he says. " Also, there will ramifications as a result of the delay for pulling the team off field. Not to be prejudicial, but that's a possibility."
The game ended around 11:35pm, with the Maple Leafs scoring an 8-2 win over London. The semi final series is now tied 2-2. Game 5 is Friday night at Labatt Park.
