Can-Am League Probes Clash Between Rox, Players

The Canadian-American League, which includes the new Rockland Boulders, is investigating a loud post-game clash Monday night in which Brockton Rox manager Bill Buckner and members of his team confronted umpires at Provident Bank Park in Pomona.

Dan Moushon, president and COO of the league, said league officials learned of the incident and spoke with the Brockton Rox and the umpires Monday night and today. Moushon was not comment on details of those discussions.

Members of the Rox and the three-man umpire team for Monday’s Boulders home game got into a dispute as they were heading to the locker rooms from the field after the Rox fell 8-6 to the Boulders. At issue was a close call at home plate in the bottom of the eighth inning, during which the Boulders scored five runs.

Tempers flared as the Rox and umpires were heading from the field to the locker rooms and a loud argument broke out on the main concourse of Provident Bank Park amid fans still at the stadium. The new stadium is designed so that players interact with the fans — there is no separate entrance to the field.

Moushon said one factor involved with Monday’s incident is that the dressing room for umpires is not yet complete at the new stadium. Moushon said players and umpires would normally go their separate ways immediately after a game.

Moushon said the Can-Am League discussed the incident with the Boulders and that new procedures are being put in place starting today to prevent a repeat of Monday night’s circumstances.

No one was injured in the incident, although stadium security officers had to restrain Buckner during the clash. The same umpire crew was scheduled to return for tonight’s 7:05 Rox-Boulders game at Provident Bank Park, but Moushon would not comment on whether any changes to that crew would be made.