…let’s recall a fateful moment in Pacific Northwest Ice Cream History. As you might’ve heard else, Jesus Montero, deemed “arguably the greatest black mark on Jack Zduriencik’s Sisyphean quest to locate right-handed power,” by Lookout Landing’s Nathan Bishop, has been promoted from Triple A Tacoma to the parent Seattle Mariners. Said move occurs nearly 11 months after Montero made headlines after a public dispute with veteran M’s scout Butch Baccala. From The Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker (August 29, 2015) :
Montero was on a rehabilitation assignment for an oblique muscle injury with the team’s Class A short-season affiliate, the Everett AquaSox, in Boise. News reports said Baccala heckled Montero as he headed toward the team dugout between innings, then later had an ice cream sandwich sent to him in the dugout.
Upon receiving the ice cream, Montero is said to have angrily approached the stands with a baseball bat. The reports say he threw the ice cream at Baccala before being pulled away.
“We are going to separate the baseball part of Jesus Montero from the human element part of Jesus Montero,’’ Zduriencik said of the former top prospect, who spent most of the season in Class AAA and only six games with the Mariners. “Our intent is to address Jesus’ issues. There’s a history here of things that have happened. We are very, very disappointed in him.”
Baccala at first denied the ice cream sandwich story, then said he couldn’t comment one way or the other. He suggested a reporter check whether they even sell ice cream sandwiches at Memorial Stadium in Boise, where the game was played.
Todd Rahr, president and general manager of the Boise Hawks, confirmed that ice cream sandwiches are indeed sold at the ballpark during games. Rahr declined to comment further, saying it was out of respect to the Mariners organization.