User Comments, Suggestions, or Complaints | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Advertising
Page rendered in 1.0802 seconds
82 querie(s) executed
Baseball Primer Newsblog
— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
MLB: Tempers flare in Yanks-Rays matchup
I’ve had it up to here, here, and here with the Duncan family.
One day after Yankees manager Joe Girardi insisted his club would not retaliate for a violent home-plate collision in Saturday’s game against the Rays, both clubs spilled onto the field at Progress Energy Park in a bench-clearing incident Wednesday.
In the first inning, Yankees starter Heath Phillips was ejected for throwing an up-and-in fastball to Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, grazing the batter and earning an immediate thumb from home-plate umpire Chad Fairchild.
Girardi vehemently protested Phillips’ ejection, at one point raising his hands to the air. Right-hander Steven Jackson relieved Phillips with two outs in the first inning.
In the home half of the first, the Yankees’ Shelley Duncan escalated the incident by sliding hard into second base, clearing both benches. Play halted for several minutes as the two clubs engaged in shoving, and at least one punch appeared to be thrown.
Duncan, Yankees third-base coach Bobby Meacham, Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long and Rays right fielder Jonny Gomes were ejected following the incident.
Repoz
Posted: March 12, 2008 at 02:25 PM | 169 comment(s)
Related News: General, NY Yankees, Tampa Bay
Related News: General, NY Yankees, Tampa Bay
My Bookmarks
You must be logged in to view your Bookmarks.
Hot Topics
Newsblog: Mets' Citi Field to become more homer-friendly next season; center-field wall gets chopped to 8 feet
(12 - 1:59pm, Feb 09)
Last: Lassus
(12 - 1:59pm, Feb 09)
Last: Lassus
Newsblog: Rosenthal: Looking back on race, Red Sox
(15 - 1:57pm, Feb 09)
Last: rLr Is King Of The Romans And Above Grammar
(15 - 1:57pm, Feb 09)
Last: rLr Is King Of The Romans And Above Grammar
Newsblog: Borzi: Upbeat Twins owner Jim Pohlad has lots to say but stays mum on the Mauer issue
(12 - 1:56pm, Feb 09)
Last: JMN Is Convinced He Has H1N1 Every Time He Coughs
(12 - 1:56pm, Feb 09)
Last: JMN Is Convinced He Has H1N1 Every Time He Coughs
Newsblog: Dodger Thoughts: Time to stop believin' in 'Don't Stop Believin'' at Dodger Stadium
(51 - 1:50pm, Feb 09)
Last: depletion
(51 - 1:50pm, Feb 09)
Last: depletion
About Baseball Think Factory | Write for Us | Copyright © 1996-2008 Baseball Think Factory
User Comments, Suggestions, or Complaints | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Advertising
User Comments, Suggestions, or Complaints | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Advertising
Reader Comments and Retorts
Go to end of page
Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.
Shelley Duncan (of course) started the top of the second with a single. He tried to go to second as the ball rolled behind third base and was out by five feet. Duncan slid in with his spikes exceedingly high at Akinori Iwamura and was tagged out. He was immediately ejected.
[On edit: the one-liner about Rocco Baldelli throwing a punch, missing, and then lying down to take a nap has been deleted in the interest of good taste.]
Contrary to some reports, however, he did not wave them like he just didn't care.
To hell with good taste. Next you'll be telling us the Rays are cancelling the Rocco Baldelli "Siesta Time" bobbleheads, complete with removable sombrero.
Was Meacham wearing a helmet? I would expect a coach to mix it up with the kids on a more level playing field if they're already dressed for hijinks.
and also with dysfunctional mitochondria
I’m not saying what Duncan did was right. It’s spring training. Save the retaliation for when the games count, or just let it go. But let’s not pretend this is ALL the Yankees fault. And it definitely isn’t over, unfortunately. Or fortunately, if you’re a base-brawl connoisseur.
Contrary to some reports, however, he did not wave them like he just didn't care.
Primey.
I basically agree, but at the same time both players are trying to impress management; you can't expect Johnson to tiptoe into home plate, or Cervilli not to block some portion of the plate.
The real problem here is the idiotic aspect of the game where collisions are permitted at home plate.
I do like how Shelley Duncan, who has been in the majors for something like 6 hours, was the ringleader.
The Pirates hitting coach used to be Dave Clark, who in his younger days, was a boxer.
Question for the floor: What's your favorite brawl?
Mine's probably the time when Jason Kendall kicked Gary Sheffield in the mouth, during a dispute at home plate.
Robin Ventura being pummeled by Nolan Ryan has to be up there.
Zimmer charging Pedro.
Izzy Alcantara, though that was in the minors.
2) Varitek treating A-rod like the blue lipped ##### that he is.
Meanwhile, on the field the brawl raged on.
Apparently before the games started this spring, Girardi gave Duncan explicit instructions not to run over the catcher, and I assume in general play easy. He's said a couple of times that all the restrictions he was playing with were off now. It was pretty clear he wanted to sort this out his way. I really hope this attitude doesn't get anyone hurt and that it doesn't create a issue between Duncan et al and the more peaceful types (Abreu, Jeter, Cano) in the clubhouse like it did when Chad Curtis ran his mouth.
Question for the floor: What's your favorite brawl?
Darryl Strawberry's leaping super punch into the Orioles dugout to get Armando Benitez after Graeme Lloyd knocked the crap out of Benitez on the field.
Your destination was face down on the ground
When he was done bringing the Dave Clark Five around.
Favorite brawl: Randall Simon vs. Italian Sausage.
Post 19.
Anyone find a video of this fight on line yet? I wanna see how Gomes executed his ambush.
That just goes to show how tough Yogi was. Nobody could knock him down.
Where I come from we call Strawberry's "leaping super punch" a "sucker punch".
Wasn't that the same fight where Alan Mills basically cold-cocked Strawberry?
Yes, Strawberry fell over after his awkward punch on Benitez, and Alan made him pay.
Shelley Duncan has been called the dirtiest player in the minors...so this is not coming as a surprise.
And If the Yankees need this sunken-eyed Lurch looking mofo to fire them up...lordy.
Plus his old-man, when not busy enableboozin', is tearing up Sabermetric reports before the pitchers even get them.
Quite the baseball family...
The Reds player was Paul Wilson, and I'll second the vote for this as best baseball fight.
Rod Allen
Rob Dibble is an idiot.
Chan Ho Park vs Darren Erstad
Kyle Farnsworth vs Paul Wilson
There was a great brawl between Scranton/Wilkes Barre and Columbus 6 years ago, my buddy was working for the Red Barons at the time and said at one point a guy who was escorted off the field came back onto the field with baseballs in his hands and pockets and tried to bean people with them. It started when, after Marlon Byrd had been beaned a few times in the series, Brett Myers, who was pitching but in the dugout since the Red Barons were up to bat, said to Drew Henson, who was leading off the next inning, "you're next."
Sucker punches don't usually come from someone who is stretched out horizontally in mid-air. I don't really see it as a sucker punch since it happened during a fight that Benitez started and then ran away from.
Yes, Strawberry fell over after his awkward punch on Benitez, and Alan made him pay.
That'll happen when you attack someone in his dugout.
I can't get the Rod Allen link to work.
Repoz, that picture looks bad, that's pretty dick of Duncan to go that high with the spikes. Yeah, someone should get him under control asap, can't have someone that unimportant starting #### like this.
*Phoof!*
Feathers everywhere.
Most of the Rays’ starters are out of the game now and their opinions on Shelley Duncan’s bench-clearing slide into Aki Iwamura in the second inning were unanimous.
“Dirty play,” said B.J. Upton. “Just a flat-out dirty play. Period.”
...Troy Percival was in the clubhouse for the play, but he saw the spike marks visible on Iwamura’s uniform pants, above his knee on the inside of the leg, and wasn’t happy. “You’re just going out there, spikes high, trying to put them into somebody?” said Percival. “There’s no room in baseball for that kind of stuff. Ty Cobb’s been gone a long time.”
Like others in the clubhouse, Percival expressed surprise that the Yankees would be involved in a play like that. “It’s not typical of them, that’s for sure,” said Percival. “They’ve always been a professional organization. They’ve always played hard and they’ve always played smart. I won’t say that about today’s game.”.
Bat vs Tommy Lasorda.
He pushed him in the face. He couldn't even tackle him when he took the first shot. Varitek looked feeble to most impartial observers.
“That was sort of second nature,” he said. “I was taught from T-ball all the way up to have your teammate’s back. With that guy trying to hurt a teammate, I just acted how I acted.”
I couldn't tell, reading quickly, whether that was Duncan or Gomes talking. I'm sure Gomes missed all the delicious irony in that comment.
Equally stupid defense for equally stupid behavior.
It's stupid to be starting stuff in spring training, but if the Yankees are going to start trouble, Duncan's exactly the guy who should be starting it, since he's a big, strong guy who's health isn't particularly important to the Yankee's 2008 title chances. Joe Torre was often criticized for not retaliating and for his teams lacking passion... looks like Girardi is trying to bring back some Billy Martin-style old school baseball.
Except that I don't think they're going to hit Duncan, they're going to hit Jeter and A-rod, who already get hit by a lot of pitches, Jeter is particurlarly prone to getting hit in the hands.
On top of that, I'm ok with retaliating, that's part of baseball and I think the Yanks have been too passive in the past. But this isn't a retaliation, this is simply starting something, for a lame ass reason, in spring training. Bringing back the edge to the team is one thing, spiking Iwamura in the nuts is another IMO.
He pushed him in the face. He couldn't even tackle him when he took the first shot. Varitek looked feeble to most impartial observers.
Am I the only one who remembers ARod throwing Veritek into a solid headlock after he was shoved? Its cute to portray ARod as a wuss, but ... jeez, would YOU want to get in a fight with him?
I just don't feel like that's retaliation worthy since it was a clean play. It's also stupid. If you're upset about your guy getting hurt in spring training starting #### with another team is not the way to ensure the safety of the rest of your players.
Was it clean, in spring training?
Yeah, I hate that A-Rod gets thrown at as much as he does, but teams have been throwing at him for ages. He led the league in HBP last year with peace lovin' Joe Torre leading the team. How much worse can it get? On the bright side, A-Rod's durability has been just as good as his other skills.
July 1987, Indians-Royals. The previous game had been nasty, too. Ken Schrom sent Willie Wilson sprawling with a pitch near the head. Wilson got up and hit a flyball out. Wilson jogged to first, loped lazily around the bag, and then suddenly dropped his shoulders in a football tackle stance and ran full speed into the small of Schrom's back. Schrom never saw him coming; when Wilson hit him, he looked like a half-opened pocket knife. Seeing the Cleveland infielders trying to chase and catch Willie Wilson, who had a sprinting headstart on them all, was precious.
Was it clean, in spring training?
So when do they stop retaliating? After they hit the guy? After they spike the second baseman? After they kill Crawford's first born son?
Yes, I think it's clean. Is it dumb? Is it out of place in spring training? Does it unneccesarily put everyone involved at risk? Do I think Maddon might have a screw lose? Yes, yes, yes and yes. But it's at least in the gray area, which is something you just can't say about what Duncan did. That was dirty.
Well, it should be done now.
Please don't ruin the official story with distracting details.
The Yanks should have taken care of it in the bottom of the 1st and busted someone
either on the hip or between the numbers
Girardi dropped the ball on this one
I hope so, but I'm pretty sure Duncan is going to get thrown at, at which point I will support the Yanks retaliating, but after hitting Longoria already, all of this was totally unnneccesary.
That's awesome.
"I hope so, but I'm pretty sure Duncan is going to get thrown at, at which point I will support the Yanks retaliating, but after hitting Longoria already, all of this was totally unnneccesary."
Why would you support retaliation there? Longoria getting hit washes out any problem from the home plate collision, and a Duncan HBP would wash out any problem from the play at second. Problem solved.
"[May 22,] 1995 - The Durham Bulls and Winston-Salem Warthogs engage in a brawl that takes more than 30 minutes to sort out. 10 players ejected are ejected from the Carolina League game. Winston-Salem P Glen Cullop is knocked unconscious in the melee which occurs on "Strike Out Domestic Violence Night." A total of $6,000 in fines is levied, and 124 games in suspensions."
Baseball-Reference
Nope, I'd hate to have to explain the makeup smudges on my shirt to my wife. I doubt she'd believe me about how I got them.
BTW ... no love for George Bell's kung fu fighting with Bruce Kison?
Best Regards
John
Actually I doubt that Duncan will get hit, unless he does something else in the future. Gomes taking him down should take care of any feelings about going after Duncan in the future.
Naw, once everybody gets out on the field, that's a push.
The umpire told Madlock to stay in the batter's box, but Madlock kept stepping out.
Finally, the ump ordered Hrabosky to pitch and the pitch would be called an automatic strike if Madlock wasn't in the box. So Hrabosky winds up, and just as he's delivering the pitch Madlock gets into the batter's box, and the pitch is right at his head. Simmons and Madlock exchange words, and then they just go at it, and both benches empty. Just a fantastic brawl because of the escalating tension throughout the at-bat.
What I can't figure out from the photo is why Jose Cardenal seems like he's joining Madlock in the batter's box....
[EDIT: in fact, there appear to be three Cubs within 5 feet of home plate as the pitch is caught by Simmons...]
Is that correct?
Nah ... I just hate guys prettier than me.
Best Regards
John
I remember reading about that one...didn't the Braves pitchers keep missing Perez, and the parade of pitchers and managers/interim managers got ejected every time?
I don't want to speak for anybody, but I believe the issue is that homosexuals are natural shortstops. If A-Rod is gay, he's clearly out of position.
(Any interpretation that would infer a derogatory view of homosexuals has to be erroneous, because all of us know that such a sentiment would be completely unfounded, juvenile and classless. And totally unwelcome. Am I right?)
The HBP is a perfectly normal response to a perceived slight.
Spiking the shortstop in the crotch, after the HBP had already evened the score, is thuggery.
That's the one. According to this, the game was August 12, 1984, and there were brawls in the second, fifth, eighth and ninth innings, with 14 ejections. Perez hit the first batter of the game, Alan Wiggins, then ended up getting thrown at in each of his four at-bats. Three Padres managers got tossed: Dick Williams, Ozzie Virgil and Jack Krol.
Oh please, it has been happening in MLB forever.
I just watched the video. Duncan did not appear, at least from my admittedly biased Yankee fanboy p.o.v., to be attempting to injure the guy; he seemed to merely be sending a message.
If that bush-league jackass, to borrow your words, Maddon hadn't instructed his players to barrel full speed into prone catchers in meaningless ST games, none of this would have happened.
make no bones about it, this is all Joe Girardi's doing too.
enjoy 3rd place Yankee fans
This post reveals more about you than anything about baseball.
Rest assured, if Duncan's intent was to injure, he would have injured someone.
this is one of my favorite sentences of all time.
You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.
<< Back to main