Umpire altercation and tirade

On June 1, 2007, Wellman gained international attention when he went on a tirade against the umpires during a game against the Chattanooga Lookouts at AT&T Field. He protested the umpire throwing his pitcher out of the game for using a foreign substance^[5] by covering home plate with dirt, then tracing in the dirt a new, significantly larger home plate. He then went on to uproot bases and throw them, crawl in a prone position across the infield like a soldier, and pretend to bite and hurl the rosin bag at an umpire as if it were a hand grenade. He concluded his tirade by pretending to eject the umpires themselves with a fist-pump and then blowing a farewell kiss to the crowd while taking a bow. The episode was broadcast on sports shows across the United States and gained him widespread fame on the Internet.^[5] Wellman was given a three-game suspension effective June 4, 2007. The Braves reappointed Wellman manager of the Mississippi Braves on December 7, 2007.

In March 2009, ESPN showed the top-10 meltdowns in sports history and judged Wellman's to be #1. Upon showing the clip, Hannah Storm said “and there he goes, never to be seen from again.” Co-anchor Josh Elliott added “end of his career.” However, this was incorrect. He was still the manager and on September 13, 2008, he led the Mississippi Braves to the Southern League championship beating the Carolina Mudcats 3-2 in the 10th inning of the decisive Game 5. He was also brought up to the major league Atlanta Braves team for a couple of weeks in September 2008, tradition for top minor league managers in the Braves organization.^[6]

On May 26, 2016, in a game against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals he was ejected after protesting a runner called out. Before being ejected he stood in what appeared to be a military parade rest position, before throwing the rosin bag as a grenade. Upon being ejected by the umpire he first kicked the second base then pulled the base from the ground and walked away with it. He then tossed the base in front of the San Antonio Missions dugout before walking off the field.^{[citation needed]}