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Baseball Player Gets Stuck in Dugout Bathroom
By Amy K. Nelson Associated Press Writer
Published: Apr 30, 2004
A former major league baseball player had a decidedly minor league experience when a broken door handle kept him trapped inside a dugout bathroom - in the middle of a game.
First baseman Jeff Liefer's dilemma forced a 20-minute delay during Thursday night's International League contest between the Indianapolis Indians and visiting Louisville.
An Indians teammate, Matt Erickson, was waiting in line and heard Liefer say he was trapped. The umpires delayed the start of the fourth inning while maintenance workers opened a vent above the door and handed Liefer tools to unscrew the handle.
When Liefer and the Indians ran back onto the field, a gift of toilet paper was waiting from the Louisville dugout.
During the delay, fans at Victory Field were given only tantalizing information over the public address system.
"They announced that an Indians player was being temporarily detained in the clubhouse, which can be interpreted a million different ways, I suppose," Liefer told WTHR-TV on Friday.
"The place erupted when I came back out on the field," he said. "When I got back out there everybody knew what happened. Maybe it just kind of spread, I don't know."
Liefer, 29, played in the major leagues for the Chicago White Sox from 1999-02. Last season, he split his time in the majors between Montreal and Tampa Bay.
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