Who Bought Off The Ump?

Outlaw13 and I sat behind home plate this past Saturday night at the local AA minor league team. Good game, nice crowd, all you can eat 'dogs, very hot ... a good time.

During a between inning break, the 'Grand Slam Inning' was introduced. A lady, looked to be in her early '30s, was selected as the contestant. If a home team player hits a grand slam home run in the next inning, this lady wins free electricity for life. Now, here in Texas with our heat, that's a bunch of money ...

Home team bats in bottom of the following inning. First two batters reach base. Next batter hits a ground ball. He's fast, and appears to beat out the throw. However, first base umpire calls him out. No on screen replay available, but lots of boos from the crowd. He sure looked safe to me.

Next batter hits a home run.

IF that batter had not been called out, the bases would have been loaded, and that woman would have won the contest. A guestimate figures it would have been worth over $100,000 in electricity, given her apparent age.

Now, I'm not saying this happened, but was there a sign from the dugout to the first base umpire before that third batter stepped up to the plate? A little help for the home team's owner and his electricity company sponsor?