Before a pitch was thrown, Eau Claire Manager Dale Varsho noticed from the first-base dugout that Coleman’s bat had pine tar well past the legal limit and shouted for the attention of home plate umpire Jack Herbert. Herbert then appropriately took the bat from Coleman’s hands and laid it down beside home plate and confirmed that the amount of pine tar used was indeed illegal.

Coleman, who was mic’d during the at-bat, calmly replied to over 5,000 onlookers, “Well, can’t we just wipe it off?”

Herbert wasn’t so forgiving.

With the bat in-hand, he then noticed a black rubber stopper extending out from the top of Coleman’s bat and gave it a tug-- only to have a half-dozen “super balls” fall onto the dirt below.

That’s when the real show began. Herbert ejected Coleman saying “Looks like you're going to have a short night, you’re out a here!”

The 4’8” Coleman began leaping into the air, bumping chests with Herbert in a sight that will be talked about amongst Mallards fans for many years to come. The crowd erupted as the former child star continued to plead his case, stating that the umpire’s comment about his night being “short” was a low-blow directed at his lack of height.