A bizarre story about a groping minor league mascot:
A man who played the mascot for a minor league baseball team was arrested after a woman said she was fondled at a game in April.
Cecil McLaurin Amick III, 37, of Boiling Springs, portrays Reedy Rip'It, a giant frog for the Greenville Drive of the Class A South Atlantic League. He faces a misdemeanor charge of molesting.
According to an incident report from the Greenville Police Department, the woman said she and a friend were leaving their seats at West End Field when the mascot grabbed her breast in a stairwell.
She reported it to the team the next day, but she said she could immediately get Amick's name, according to the report.
Amick was arrested June 27.
The team's general manager, Mike DeMaine, said in a statement that the organization has suspended Amick and is cooperating with authorities.
DeMaine said the team couldn't comment on details. "We do require all Greenville Drive employees to adhere to policies listed in our employee handbook, which includes a section on professionalism and conduct," he said.
Amick told WYFF in Greenville that he was advised by his attorney not to comment.
This is pretty bizarre.
First of all, don't you think that, if you were going to grope someone, you wouldn't do it when you were in a team mascot costume at the ballpark where you work? I mean, are there really so many Reedy Rip'its running around there that there could be a case of mistaken identity? It seems like, "The perpetrator was dressed in a giant frog costume" would tend to narrow down the list of suspects pretty significantly.
Secondly, do you think there will be a lineup? What will it look like? Will it be Reedy Rip'it up there with a bunch of regular guys, with the victim pointing to him and saying, "That's him, #3, the giant frog!"? Will there be several mascots all up there in the lineup together? Or maybe a bunch of giant frogs?
My favorite part, though, is the g.m. saying, in response to the allegation, that they "require all Greenville Drive employees to adhere to policies listed in our employee handbook." Which is fine as far as it goes, but is there a specific policy in the handbook prohibiting mascots from groping fans?
I have an image of Mr. Amick III sitting in DeMaine's office, and upon being confronted about his behavior, acting like George Costanza after he had sex with the cleaning lady on his desk. "Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I gotta tell ya, I have to plead ignorance on this one, cause if someone told me that that sort of behaviour was FROWNED upon..."