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Friday, March 14, 2008

MLB: Duncan, Cabrera, Gomes suspended

Shelley, Melky, Jonny, suspendy

Yankees first baseman Shelley Duncan and outfielder Melky Cabrera were each suspended three games for their roles in Wednesday’s bench-clearing incident against the Rays.

Tampa Bay outfielder Jonny Gomes was also suspended for two games for his involvement. All three players were fined, along with Yankees manager Joe Girardi and coaches Kevin Long and Bobby Meacham.

The announcement was made on Friday by Bob Watson, Major League Baseball’s vice president of on-field operations. The suspensions, unless appealed, would begin at the start of the regular season.

...Watson said that Duncan committed “violent and reckless actions, which incited the bench-clearing incident,” and Cabrera “violent and aggressive actions during the incident.” Gomes was suspended for “violent actions, which escalated” the situation.

Repoz Posted: March 14, 2008 at 07:31 PM | 37 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
  Tags: rays, yankees

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   1. Cowboy Popup Posted: March 14, 2008 at 07:53 PM (#2712954)
I still haven't seen the fight. It sucks that Melky is suspended, way to start off the season.
   2. DKDC Posted: March 14, 2008 at 07:58 PM (#2712957)
Wait, what did Melky do?
   3. RB in NYC (Now with New iPhone!) Posted: March 14, 2008 at 08:00 PM (#2712959)
Apparently he clocked Longoria during the fight
   4. aleskel Posted: March 14, 2008 at 08:02 PM (#2712964)
is that three regular season games, or three spring training games?
   5. radioman Posted: March 14, 2008 at 08:15 PM (#2712969)
from the article-

The suspensions, unless appealed, would begin at the start of the regular season.
   6. Gambling Rent Czar Posted: March 14, 2008 at 08:18 PM (#2712971)
No suspension for Johnson?

imagine that Yankee fans ... lol
   7. rLr Is King Of The Romans And Above Grammar Posted: March 14, 2008 at 08:23 PM (#2712975)
Shelley Duncan is a dumbass. Melky Cabrera is a dumbass for behaving like Shelley Duncan.
   8. Crispix Attacks Posted: March 14, 2008 at 08:25 PM (#2712977)
Would the player OR the team really consider it a punishment to be suspended for three spring training games?

on a related note, I was just looking into mlb.tv and noticed that it covers spring training games as well. Interesting for next year, anyway.

And...in its list of requirements...it says Windows XP.

Not Windows Vista?
   9. bunyon Posted: March 14, 2008 at 08:29 PM (#2712979)
Not Windows Vista?

Vista is more useless than Shelley Duncan. IN fact, a good retaliation for Johnson's collision would have been to sneak into Rays' offices and install vista on all their computers. Now that would be fighting dirty.


Did Cabrera get suspended because he landed a punch? It seems to me everyone fighting should get punished regardless of who "wins". If they all come charging in but only one guy lands a punch, that guy shouldn't get more than anyone else who throws a punch.
   10. Crispix Attacks Posted: March 14, 2008 at 08:38 PM (#2712990)
Vista is more useless than Shelley Duncan.

This is irrelevant. It's what comes on new computers. Mlb.tv had better be compatible with it.
   11. Cowboy Popup Posted: March 14, 2008 at 08:43 PM (#2713000)
it really wasn't much of a fight.

Yeah, I finally saw it on youtube, what a let down. There sure was a #### ton of guys on the field though. I haven't found any footage of Melky clocking Longoria. Obviously the suspensions will be appealed, maybe Melky gets his reduced.
   12. Sexy Lizard Posted: March 14, 2008 at 08:53 PM (#2713010)
I think you can use mlb.tv with Vista. MLB.TV Mosaic works with it. The part at the top of the page doesn't list Vista as one of the "profiles ... recommended for the optimal browsing experience." In other words, Vista breaks a lot of things and they haven't figured it all out yet. But it should work, more or less.

This isn't by any stretch unique to mlb.tv. There are computers sold with Vista that don't really work that well with it, and some have components that don't work at all with it. It's like XP was at first: it'll take several service packs and a jump in the processing power of an average home PC to get Vista up to where XP is in terms of functional reliability.
   13. Big Train Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:01 PM (#2713019)
I bought a powerful computer with Vista, and I couldn't be happier with it. And I ask a lot of my computer.
   14. bunyon Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:02 PM (#2713022)
What the Lord's bullpen says. It isn't up to mlb.tv to make itself able to work with an operating system that is fundamentally flawed. I'm not as confident as he is that vista will ever be a smooth platform.
   15. Big Train Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:13 PM (#2713027)
don't they list the "base" requirements?

As in, it will work with XP and higher?
   16. sardonic Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:21 PM (#2713034)
Would the player OR the team really consider it a punishment to be suspended for three spring training games?


Peter Abraham says that suspensions will be served in the regular season.

Edit: As does TFE.
   17. Sexy Lizard Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:22 PM (#2713035)
don't they list the "base" requirements?

As in, it will work with XP and higher?


On the "recommended" systems, no. They list XP, 2000, and NT, in descending order. On the Mac side it lists "OS X or above", so they'd say it like that if they recommended Vista. But they do expressly list Vista in the Mosaic list.

My guess is that it will work pretty well, with some hiccups. In the past I've had some success using a lot of mlb.com products with Linux, which they don't support at all. I think that they are (sensibly) conservative about saying what works.
   18. Sexy Lizard Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:24 PM (#2713038)
I think that if suspensions were served in ST, you'd see most established veteran players throwing at least one punch every spring. Preferably before a day or two before a long bus ride.
   19. Hurdle's Heroes (SuperBaes) Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:29 PM (#2713043)
Melky's slated to start in CF and Tampa lists Jonny Gomes as their starting DH, but how big of a loss is Shelley Long Duncan for half a week? Either way, 2-3 games at the beginning of the year doesn't really seem like enough of a punishment to discourage ST bad blood.
   20. Rich Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:36 PM (#2713046)
That Melky would get a longer suspension than Gomes demonstrates that a more stringent standard of conduct is applied to the Yankees.
   21. rLr Is King Of The Romans And Above Grammar Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:40 PM (#2713047)
If I were Girardi, I would have fined Duncan.
   22. Gambling Rent Czar Posted: March 14, 2008 at 09:41 PM (#2713048)
That Melky would get a longer suspension than Gomes demonstrates that a more stringent standard of conduct is applied to the Yankees.


he hit somebody .. with his fists .. took a swing .. why should he not get suspended longer versus somebody that just bumped another player.

what a reach.
   23. ??'s Biggest Fan! Posted: March 14, 2008 at 10:19 PM (#2713064)
what a reach.

Hello teapot, hello kettle.
   24. Curse of the Andino Posted: March 14, 2008 at 11:36 PM (#2713087)
MLB.com uses Silverlight, which is a very recent Windows program. I suspect it would work with Vista. However, after Vista came out, when I needed to upgrade, I went to a white-box show and bought a PC with XP.

/Guy there said other folks were doing the same damn thing...
   25. baudib Posted: March 14, 2008 at 11:39 PM (#2713089)
Girardi should be suspended for a week.
   26. YR Denies Jesus Montero Posted: March 14, 2008 at 11:53 PM (#2713092)
why should he not get suspended longer versus somebody that just bumped another player.


I agree that Gomes should be treated more leniently because he's obviously such a hapless wuss that even a wide-open sucker-punch was beyond his abilities to execute successfully. If you're going to give any professional athlete a free shot at you with your back turned, make it Johnny Gomes.
   27. The Keith Law Blog Blah Blah (battlekow) Posted: March 14, 2008 at 11:54 PM (#2713093)
mlb.tv works fine with vista for me, in both firefox and ie. i'll try it on kubuntu later tonight.
   28. Scott Kazmir's breaking balls Posted: March 15, 2008 at 12:12 AM (#2713097)
No suspension for Johnson?

imagine that Yankee fans ... lol



Not one regular Yankee, with the exception of Cabrera (if you consider him a "regular") attended that game. Duncan stated publicly that he would take out a player if given a chance. He went in with spikes high, hitting Iwamura in the thigh, thus setting off the melee. IMO, the Yankees sent a bunch of scrubs to that game because they knew this was going to happen and didn't want their regulars getting hurt/suspended.

To equate this incident to the Johnson/Cerville collusion is totally immature. Calling for a suspension for Johnson is typical of a Yankee fan. That play was just part of the game. I also agree that Giradi should get fined or suspended because of this. He could just as easily kept Duncan, just like he kept ARod, Jeter, and the rest of the regulars, back at Steinbrenner Stadium and avoided the whole incident. Playing Duncan that game was premeditated, knowing full well this was going to happen.

This incident isn't over...not by any length of the imagination. TB owes NY one cheap shot.
   29. YR Denies Jesus Montero Posted: March 15, 2008 at 12:17 AM (#2713100)
TB owes NY one cheap shot.


Golly, Tampa Bay seems might ungrateful for a welfare team that couldn't afford a used pine tar rag without Yankee dollars. That's typical of the welfare queen mentality though, it's always "gimmie gimmie gimmie and damn you for not giving me more."
   30. Dan Turkenkopf Posted: March 15, 2008 at 12:23 AM (#2713103)
Not one regular Yankee, with the exception of Cabrera (if you consider him a "regular")


Wait.. You mean the full time CF might not be considered a regular?
   31. Bruce Markusen Posted: March 15, 2008 at 12:54 AM (#2713112)
Duncan's three-game suspension is reasonable; I think the Yankees can accept that, though I'm sure they will appeal.

Cabrera's three-game suspension is highly questionable. I didn't hear or read one person mention Cabrera's role in the brawl over the last two days. I haven't seen the replay since the suspensions came down, but based on other people's observations, Cabrera doesn't seem to have done anything outlandish within the context of a bench-clearing brawl. How he gets three games, while Gomes, who made a beeline from right field and then tried to jump on top of Duncan from behind, receives only two games, is beyond me.

I'd like to hear Bob Watson's rationale.
   32. Scott Kazmir's breaking balls Posted: March 15, 2008 at 01:57 AM (#2713125)
Wait.. You mean the full time CF might not be considered a regular?


OK...I'll give you that...but the point I'm attempting to make is if my player states that he will intentionally hurt one of your players if given a chance and I play him in the next game our teams meet, and that player does exactly what he threatened to do, then I'm just as guilty of committing the infraction as the player who actually did the deed. Knowing that, and keeping my regular players back at base camp just in case a riot ensues, sure qualifies as resonable for Watson to suspend and/or fine me for my role in the matter.

It appears Giardi is trying to make a name for himself in the NY media. Not a good way to start off as the new manager replacing, arguably, the best manager the Yankees ever had. Torre has more class than to resort to chicken-$h_t like this. It would have NEVER happened on his watch, IMO.
   33. Rich Posted: March 15, 2008 at 04:16 AM (#2713160)
he hit somebody .. with his fists .. took a swing .. why should he not get suspended longer versus somebody that just bumped another player.

what a reach.


But for Gomes's uncalled for reaction to Duncan's initial action, the conflict does not escalate to the next level, i.e., a bench clearing brawl.

That's not a reach, it's factual.
   34. Gambling Rent Czar Posted: March 15, 2008 at 07:54 AM (#2713204)
a bench clearing brawl


a bench clearing brawl? are you sure we are watching the same tape?
I saw a chicken #### player go into second base with his spikes three feet off the ground. He was out by seven feet, easily.
It was so fricking obvious what he was doing, the Umpire standing 6 feet away, didn't even have to 'think' while kicking his punk ass out of the game. it was instantaneous. it was that obvious.

I then saw Gomes charge Duncan from behind and bump him in the back, and then i saw about 60 people rush on to the field. I never saw this brawl you mention.

Apparently another Yankee, imagine that, decided this would be a good time to rabbit punch somebody though, but I have yet to see the video.

That's not a brawl.


Rich, we are just going to have to agree to disagree about this. I have no dog in this fight. Duncan came out said what he was going to do, and then tried to do it.

it is indefensible.
   35. bunyon Posted: March 15, 2008 at 12:35 PM (#2713228)
Not one regular Yankee...



Wait.. You mean the full time CF might not be considered a regular?



You misinterpreted. An epidemic of constipation has been going through the Yankee clubhouse. Something about a lack of "special" coffee.
   36. Hack Wilson Posted: March 15, 2008 at 08:19 PM (#2713375)
Cabrera's three-game suspension is highly questionable...I'd like to hear Bob Watson's rationale.
Maybe during the melee somebody noticed that instead of league approved MLB underwear he was wearing spiderman undies. If so Melky is lucky the suspension isn't longer.

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