Minor league manager loses cool, fined, suspended

— -- LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Once the umpire called Roger Clemens' kid safe, a minor league manager threw a major league tantrum that would have made Lou Piniella, Earl Weaver and Tommy Lasorda proud. It also cost Asheville Tourists manager Joe Mikulik a seven-day suspension and $1,000 fine.

Mikulik, who used to write "Never Surrender" on his wristbands when he played in the minors, put on a throwing, kicking and screaming show Sunday that was still the talk of baseball a day later.

The South Atlantic League also spent a lot of time talking about his antics and penalized him Monday night. "I expected to be fined and suspended," Mikulik told the Asheville Citizen-Times. "I accept it and I will take it like a man. I respect Mr. [league president John Henry] Moss and I understand he had to take action."

"This is not about Joe or the umpires; it is about player development," Colorado Marc Gustafson, the Rockies' director of player development, told the Citizen-Times. "This has happened and now it is time to move on. We're going to back Joe because he is a great guy who is an asset to his community and then organization. This is an isolated incident."

Asheville is a farm club for the Rockies.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.