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Oneri Fleita was in attendance at Fitch Park again today, sitting high atop the tower between the four fields, from where he could simultaneously watch both the "sim game" on Field #2 and the EXST game on Field #3. And he certainly made his presence known, too!

In true Larry Himes fashion, Oneri went ballistic not once but twice, the first time when he noticed 2B Jeffrey Rea (who is at Fitch Park rehabbing from a quad strain) hitting in the simulated game while dressed only in a t-shirt and shorts (not an unusual outfit for an "off-field" workout at EXST, BTW, especially for a rehab guy who is only cleared to take BP).

ONERI: (yelling at Rea): "Where's your %%%%+*$ uniform?! You think you're a coach? This isn't Mississippi State! Get the hell off the field!"

At first I don't think Rea knew that Oneri was yelling at him (in particular). He just stood there behind the batting cage, leaning on his bat and talking to the other hitters. I think that's what really got Oneri mad, because that's when he mentioned "Mississippi State" (Rea played college ball at MSU).

See, Rea is a nice kid, but he is very quiet and serious. I've never seen him joke around with the other players, and he really seems to study the game closely when he sits on the bench. You could see he was embarrassed and a bit puzzled by Fleita's rant as he trotted to the clubhouse.

And then in the bottom of the 1st inning of the EXST game on Field #3, Josh Vitters scored standing up on a two-out RBI single to LF by Carlos Perez, but Vitters just barely beat the throw to the plate and almost got knocked off his feet, failing to slide because on-deck hitter Kyler Burke didn't get into position near home plate to coach the runner. So Vitters scores and gets a high-five from Burke, and then Burke ambles up to the plate for his AB.

ONERI: (yelling at Boise manager Tom Beyers, who was the EXST game manager today): "Get a %%%%+*$ pinch-hitter up there, Tommy! If he can't coach the runner, he can't play! The runner can't score standing up like that! That's how guys get hurt!"

And so Kyler Burke gets this classic "WTF?" look on his face, and walks slowly back to the bench with his head down, as Junior Lake has to hurriedly run over to Field #3 from Field #2 (where he was hitting in the sim game) to pinch-hit for Burke. (Lake had a "WTF?" look on his face, too).

I think the f-bombs yelled at the top of his lungs are what really put it over the top, especially since the Cubs players at Extended Spring Training are continually being told to maintain a "professional demeanor" at all times.