Fight Night Sox-Rays

Here's the video of the June '08 fight between Shields, Crisp, and friends.  :- )

Give Shields credit for *enthusiasm* on that opening right hand, but I doubt that Angelo Dundee is going to give much credit for the overhand, bottom-of-the-knuckles "paw" strike.  LOL.   Doesn't anybody ever think to drop the brow, put the left arm up and throw one really hard at the midsection?  Wouldn't break your pitching hand if you happened to connect, either...  and ESPN would probably put the ensuing nausea-fest on its top 10 plays...

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The code of conduct in baseball is an interesting thing.  In 2007, Carlos Triunfel stole a base (in Class-A baseball) when up by eight runs, got yanked by his manager for a game-and-a-half, and the Rattlers took 5 HBP's without reprisal.

What's going on here?

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The worst fights I've ever been in have been on sports fields (notably basketball.

You are amp'ed up big time, you are in no mood to back down.  The other side pushes or holds, or *gloats* LOL, so you get in their face about it ... funny thing is, this is one time when the other guy does not respond to threats by backing down; he responds by swinging.  And off you go.

Baseball fights generally look harmless, but they are long-lasting feuds and can be dangerous... many has been the player-to-player feud that lasted 10, 15 years.  Guys roll into 2nd with spikes up, pitches get thrown at heads, bats get thrown, etc.

Lots of guys in pro sports have been hurt, hurt badly.  This is before your time, but in the 1970's it was cool for the NBA to have an "enforcer" on each team, like hockey.  This lasted until "the hardest punch in the history of mankind," when Kermit Washington completely shattered the face of Rudy Tomjanovich.  It's cool until a tragedy occurs...

Hockey players skating up to enemies with their sticks braced in two hands, teeth high... batters taking bats to enemy catchers ... football players going for the side of the knee on the chop block ... it can get murderous out there.

Oh, how shocking that Ron Artest went into the stands after some fans, eh?  How many times do you suppose that has happened in sports history?  Probably at least a hundred, including with both Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb.

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Point is, you need to put a brake on those baseball tempers before they really blossom.  A complex set of rules is in place to keep them in check.

Triunfel's SB would be viewed on the field as gloating, as laughing at the losers, and those losers are physically as big or bigger than the winners are...

You can say that the other team is trying to score runs too.  You know what?  They aren't.  At 11-3 a baseball game has become a glorified intrasquad game.  Both teams are going up there swinging at the first pitch, just wanting the game over with, the game that has become a joke.  That's true in the minors and it's true in the majors, too.

Triunfel, at 17, didn't grasp the ramifications of getting into a baseball feud.  His manager, and all of his teammates, did.  So they didn't respond to 5 consecutive HBP's.  Now it's over.  But you can see how much of a pain in the posterior Triunfel made himself to his teammates on this one.

Pro 17:14  The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.

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=== Comic Relief Dept. ===

From Sam Kinison, who is channelled by that guy who writes Dodger Blues:

June 5, 1999

Early in the game, Chan Ho Park had beaned Angels infielder Randy Velarde—the smallest guy in the Angels lineup. Soon after, Park gave up a grand slam to backup catcher Matt Walbeck, who was hitting about .206 at the time. A few batters later, Park nobly took out his frustration on Velarde—again.

Later in the game, Park bunted up the first base line. Angels pitcher Tim Belcher picked up the ball and tagged Park in the chest. That's when the Dodgers pitcher went apeshit. After taking a step back, Park dug into his Korean bag of tricks and karate kicked Belcher in the mid-section with his cleats. Whether it was more reminiscent of Mr. Miyagi, Bruce Lee, or Pelé, Park actually got his [butt] whooped. Belcher, who must have been about 45 year old at the time, threw Park to the ground and pounded on him.

Park received a seven-game suspension and was fined $3,000 by the National League. "He pushed the ball in my chest," Park said afterward. "That's not normal. It feels like he was trying to hurt me." Yeah, no [kidding].

Y'know I can't endorse Kinison :- ) but this list of Dodger fights is relatively less insane by his standards and is as funny as ever from Kinison.

His description of Pedro Guerrero's 1988 bat throw:

Guerrero told reporters that his intent was to "brush back" Cone with the bat, in the same way that Cone threw close to him. Guerrero claimed he didn't want to hurt the pitcher, only send him a message. "They can hurt us, we can't hurt them," Guerrero whined. He was later suspended for four days and fined $1,000 by the National League. (Although if accounts of his I.Q. are correct, the league could have fined him $100,000 and he wouldn't have known the difference.)

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=== Sweet Lou Dept. ===

One of the first things that a real manager brings to his team, is respect from the other guys.  On a physical level.

You might remember that the 1995 ALDS opened with the Yankees whistling a pitch at the head of a Mariner batter, early on.

You remember the volcanic explosion from Mt. Piniella in the dugout?  WHEW.  Among many other things that happened, he made a big show of going over to Tim Belcher (or Chris Bosio, I forget which) and gesturing at a Yankee hitter, in an obvious order to hit the player in the head.

Lou screamed over across the field, "YOU [blanks] ARE GOING DOWN, AND WHEN YOU DO, REMEMBER I ORDER IT !!"

Being physically intimidating is a big part of being a champion, as the Yankees realized.  There are limits under which you work, or things get ugly.  The fact that the Mariners are super-soft, physically, under Mike Hargrove ... that is a big part of their problem.

DB.com one more time, wistfully remembering the Lou days, after Piniella was replaced in Seattle by milder-mannered gentlemen:

Triggered by an inside pitch from Mariner reliever Frankie Rodriguez to Mark Grudzielanek, the Dodgers and Mariners brawled for more than 15 minutes. The inside pitch came immediately after Trenidad Hubbard stroked a three-run double to put the Dodgers ahead 12-3. Rodriguez repeatedly uttered a four-letter word while challenging Grudzielanek to retaliate.

Everything appeared to be contained initially, with only some grabbing and gesturing. Then the Mariner relievers reached the mound and changed the mood. Jose Paniagua found someone's head with a sucker punch. Then players paired off - David Segui and Raul Mondesi, Butch Huskey and Angel Pena, Paniagua and Devon White, Jose Mesa and Dave Hansen, Jay Buhner and Pedro Borbon. Seattle reliever Damaso Marte pumped up the emotions with a sweeping right hand on the run to Hundley's head, and that led to the swell of players landing on Seattle outfielders Brian Hunter and Charles Gipson, both of whom were injured. "They kept cheap-shotting us," Dodger catcher Todd Hundley whined.

Even class-A teams (like Triunfel's opponents) know how to deal with a 12-3 loss, or a 17-game losing streak to a rival, for that matter.  There are some MLB clubs, however, that don't.  Boston's one that does.

Cheers,

Dr D