Hey NCAA, Duke Baseball Not Having AJ Gracia For Super Regional Because Of A Hard Hat Is Absolutely Ridiculous

The non-stop chatter online about how college baseball has gotten to a point of exuberant celebrations, taunting and un-tucked uniforms reached a boiling point this week as the NCAA Tournament Super Regionals started on Friday afternoon. For Duke centerfielder AJ Gracia, he will miss the weekend opener because of having a hard hat in his hand. 

Yes, you read that right. AJ Gracia will not be allowed to play Saturday against Murray State because of him bringing a celebratory prop onto the field of play last weekend against Oklahoma State in the regional final. 

If you thought some of the rules that the NCAA abides by were wild, it doesn't compare to the absolute nonsense that transpired against the Cowboys. 

As AJ Gracia was still celebrating a solo home run during the bottom of the eighth inning last weekend, he was immediately adorned with the hard hat which is given out to players after a home run, or an important play for the Blue Devils. 

Unfortunately, he was still wearing the hat when teammate Sam Davis drove in a pair of runs that gave Duke the 3-2 lead. It was during this celebration that AJ Gracia was seen by the home-plate umpire stepping about one foot out of the dugout, with the hard hat still in his hand, enjoying the big moment with his teammates after taking the lead. 

Boom. He was immediately ejected by the umpire for having a ‘prop’ on the field, which is an overreaction to the rules by the official. It's up to his discretion on whether to eject a player from the game for having the item break the plane of the dugout, and on to the playing field. 

You be the judge. 

As you can see, Gracia was barely outside the actual dugout, and this umpire was clearly trying to make things about himself, and not the fantastic game he was charged with officiating. 

NCAA Should’ve Reversed AJ Gracia's Suspension

That was one of those moments where the umpire should've taken a second to calm down, and then made a judgment call that it was not worth ejecting AJ Gracia from the game, and subsequently having him miss the Super Regional opener against Murray State. 

"We have filed an appeal, and are awaiting a response from the NCAA," Duke head coach Chris Pollard said this week. "We feel like this is a misappropriation of the rule. The rule is in place for a reason. A few years ago in our sport, teams were using props in a way that really disrespected the opponent. It was done in a way that taunted the opponent, which was a way to incite a reaction out of the opponent…

"The NCAA said that if you're going to have a celebratory prop, it needs to stay in the dugout. We've honored that. We've put that helmet on over 200 times over the last couple of years, and every time it's been in the dugout. AJ was still wearing the helmet in the dugout when we scored the go-ahead run in the 8th. And just a moment of joy and excitement, he jumped up from the dugout, and the umpire turned and immediately tossed him from the game."

While Duke has appealed the decision to the NCAA, while getting support from ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, a decision is still looming, and it doesn't look like AJ Gracia will be suiting-up for the Blue Devils tonight. 

Yes, we have seen some celebrations in the past go pretty far overboard, but this was not one of those moments. The NCAA should be ashamed of this nonsensical decision to uphold this one-game suspension. 

If you want to know why so many fans and coaches are sick of the NCAA, look no further than a small moment during a regional game in college baseball. 

An absolutely ridiculous decision now leads to a player missing out on what is such an important game in his college career. 

Shame on you, NCAA. Grow the hell up.