It was an ugly finish to an ugly series.

St. Jack’s relievers Scott Eyre and Derrick Turnbow were both ejected for plunking consecutive Lindenhurst hitters in the ninth inning of a devastating 7-6 loss on August 20, the final game of a four-game set that saw the Hitmen take three of four from the Demons.

The ejections outraged St. Jack’s owner/general manager Jack Flynn, who (as usual) couldn’t believe his team’s misfortune.

“I don’t understand how Lindenhurst players were allowed to continually lean into the ball like that without any repercussions,” Flynn fumed. “I thought I was watching Rudi Stein out there!”

Flynn argued that the ejections and subsequent suspensions were all the more ridiculous considering it was a one-run game in the ninth inning of the final game of the series and that there was obviously no intent involved. Eyre had just replaced Hector Carrasco, who had thrown four shutout innings of relief, and promptly plunked the first batter he faced. Because Mark Buehrle had hit batters in each of the first two innings of the game, warnings had already been issued and the umpires felt they had no choice but to run Eyre.

Things got even more comical when Turnbow was brought in to face the next batter, who rolled a 2-7 and was subsequently hit by the pitch. He was thrown out immediately and manager Earl Weaver was seen trying to restrain Flynn from running onto the field and getting in the home plate umpire’s face. Both Eyre and Turnbow, by NYLISL rules, will be suspended for three games. St. Jack's will be appealing the suspensions to NYLISL co-commissioner Chris Forster.

“Now we have a five-man bullpen – Harden, Carrasco, Fuentes, Francisco Rodriguez and Curt freaking Schilling! He’s a 30/40, for Christ’s sake! How can the league allow a travesty like this to happen?” Flynn raged. When reminded by TV analyst Rex Hudler that Flynn is the co-commissioner of the league and had actually recommended the rule changes concerning ejections at last year’s Winter Meetings, the response was swift and vicious.

“Take it out of here, Rex,” Flynn snapped, and the former utility infielder was quickly escorted from the clubhouse by Demons security personnel.

Flynn later added that he would be commissioning a blue-ribbon panel to investigate the use of the brawl charts in NYLISL games. “Something tells me that not everyone is playing by the rules here,” he said. “It’s funny how we’re nearly halfway through the season and not one other team has had a player suspended in this fashion. I know the Strat gods hate me, but I still have a sneaking suspicion that not everyone is using these charts.”

News and Notes: In all, seven Hitmen were plunked by Demons pitching. Two of those incidents led to injuries, as David Wright and Larry Walker were each forced to go on the disabled list. Not one Demon was hit by a pitch throughout the series ... Curt Schilling and Jack Wilson were recalled from Pearl River to replace Eyre and Turnbow during their suspensions … Flynn planned to scout the league for an additional reliever, as well as a third catcher once Victor Martinez and Michael Barrett are the only backstops on the 40-man roster. Lindenhurst was dangling Toby Hall, but the initial asking price of Jeff Conine was too high. On August 26, the Demons acquired Jason Kendall from New Jersey for David DeJesus.