During a break in action of the Salt Lake Bees' 5-4 loss to Reno on Monday, a few of the state’s favorites mascots lined up in the outfield to race.
As Bumble the Bee took off in a sprint, the Jazz Bear tore after him in a grounds cart and Grizzbee took a slow walk around the warning track.
While Bumble was barely able to hold off a charging Bear, the Grizzlies' mascot was still in left field, not close to the finish line that resided near home plate. As the between-inning clock ticked down, it was clear Grizzbee wasn’t going to make it in time. This was a problem — if between-inning promotions go long, the home organization is fined.
A Bees employee quickly ran onto the field and guided Grizzbee off the field through an outfield gate — crisis averted.
The 13,000-plus elementary school kids in attendance for Prevention Dimension Kids Day cheered what was the most dramatic moment of the afternoon outside of the game. It was a little different a year ago.
Flashback to Kids Day 2014. During a meeting on the mound, Albuquerque teammates infielder Alex Guerrero and catcher Miguel Olivo got into an argument. It appeared that Guerrero had failed to cover the second base bag on what became a Bees stolen base, and Olivo was quite upset about it.
"They were yelling at each other in the middle of the field every time the pitching coach came out," then Salt Lake catcher Luis Martinez said. "I might be mad at an infielder, but I'm not going to take it out on him in the middle of the field. I'm going to take him to the side and talk it out with him. It wasn't handled the right way."
Olivo and Guerrero had to be separated from each other on the mound, but once the argument got into the dugout there was no stopping the brawl.
The two pushed up against the fence of the dugout and during the fight Olivo bit a chunk of Guerrero’s ear off.
So now, almost a year later, where are the two players that produced one of the most bizarre moments in Salt Lake Bees history?
Alex Guerrero
Guerrero was on the doorstep of the majors at the time of the dugout altercation. He had barely missed getting the second-base job coming out of spring training in 2014 and was hitting .376 on the Triple-A season.
He was doing so well that when he didn’t come out onto the field following the altercation, the Albuquerque radio play-by-play man (who couldn’t see the incident from the press box) assumed he was removed because he had been called up to the majors.
Following the bite, Guerrero needed plastic surgery and took nearly three months to fully recover. He eventually made it to majors last September, but he really started leaving a mark last month.
The 28-year-old infielder was named National League Rookie of the Month for April, hitting .423 with five home runs and 13 RBIs on only 26 plate appearances.
Miguel Olivo
While Guerrero has starred for the Dodgers, Olivo has found a spot south of the border. The catcher was immediately suspended following the incident and was later released by the Dodgers before being picked up the Tijuana Toros of the Mexican League.
Olivo is still there and is helping the Toros challenge for a playoff spot. He is currently hitting .288 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs. The 36-year-old's days in the majors are likely over though, with any chance of another big league appearance ended with a crunch of an ear.
After such a weird moment a season ago, a slow-moving mascot was more than enough for the Bees on this Kids Day. In fact, they probably would have been OK taking the fine, too.