Blue Jays to A-Rod: All May Not Be Forgiven

In the pantheon of cheap moves, that bit where A-Rod yelled "mine" to distract Blue Jays' third-baseman Howie Clark looms large. That was back in May, and Clark and the Jays have said they've put it all past them.

But today, with the Yanks visiting Toronto, the Jays sent a message that they're still kinda upset, as starter Jesse Litsch fired a pitch behind A-Rod's legs to start the second inning. A-Rod stared out at the mound while his teammates hit the dugout's top step, but nothing else came of it.

For the rest of the game, the two teams seemed on the verge of a good ol' afternoon donnybrook. Resident geezer Matt Stairs got plunked by Luis Vizcaino, Jorge Posado was hit by Brian Wolfe, and A-Rod tried to take down John McDonald with a slide (as depicted in the photo accompanying this post). But, sadly, no punches were thrown, and no warnings issued. After the game, Joe Torre said he didn't think the Jays were sending a message with that pitch to A-Rod.

"They played us four games at our place," Torre said. "Unless they didn't care about doing it there and they did it here, that doesn't make sense."

At least there's still two more games to go. Plenty of time for all sorts of hi-jinks.