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UPDATE, 4:45 p.m.: Humboldt Crabs President Matthew Filar sent us an email earlier defending his player.

"Certainly throwing the bat was wrong," Filar wrote, "but when a pitcher throws a ball at a batter at 92 mph, and the authority figure (the umpire) does nothing, when does the batter have to defend himself. Four pitches? Five?"

He added that since the video doesn't show the entire event -- including the first two pitches directed at Sanchez -- it implies that the Crabs batter was mostly to blame. This "could very well damage the future of a very talented and very good young man," Filar said.

Original post:

After getting beaned by a pitch at last Saturday's game between the Humboldt Crabs and the California Warriors, Crabs catcher Sergio Sanchez wound up, took a step toward the mound and hurled his bat at the pitcher. Players and coaches from both teams stormed the field while an umpire guided the pitcher, Michael Peterson, away from the fracas.

Witnesses of the event, including the Journal's own Jonathan Webster, say that Peterson had thrown three straight pitches directly at Sanchez. A video of the incident (below) has gotten more than 170,000 views so far on YouTube, and a story was posted last night on Yahoo! Sports. [UPDATE: 323,615 views and counting, 4:30 p.m.]

According to the person who posted the video, both Sanchez and Peterson were ejected, and Peterson Sanchez was suspended for two games. The Crabs went on to win the Far West League Tournament Championship the following day.