The Yankees and Blue Jays got into a bit of a bean ball war earlier in the week, and Roger Clemens and Joe Torre are the ones who will pay the price: Clemens got nailed for five days while Torre will be forced to miss one.I'm sure this isn't going to go over that well amongst Yankee fans, but it had to have been expected. Tempers flared after the Blue Jays threw behind Alex Rodriguez in Monday's game, so much so that my FanHouse colleague Red literally predicted some more extra-curricular activities would happen later in the series. Lo and behold, after Rodriguez was plunked on the calf in Tuesday's game, Clemens retaliated by hitting Alex Rios square in the back, earning an immediate ejection for both him and his skipper.
If Clemens was merely retaliating, shouldn't at least one of the Jays been suspended, as well? Maybe in a perfect world, but they managed to just barely stay on the good graces of the umpires, which makes all the difference in the world when commissioner's office starts doling out punishment.
Something to take into consideration is that this is probably the most expensive bean ball of Clemens' career -- not being paid for five days is almost like taking one million dollars out of his bank account. Granted, I'm not sure Clemens even balances his checkbook to within six digits, but still, I'm guessing his accountant will see the missing dough.
Update: three Blue Jays were fined, but not suspended: Josh Towers, Matt Stairs and third-base coach Brian Butterfield.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-10-2007 @ 6:39AM
EagleSpeak said...
If you can't stand the heat get outta the batter's box. The pitcher owns home plate and any one who crowds it.
If Toronto's rookie fell for A-Rods gag than he got what he deserved....mud on his face. No permanent injury.
Cheer's to Roger for sticking up for his team mate!
Reply
8-10-2007 @ 10:25AM
badgolfer78 said...
I give Roger credit for sticking up for his team. Something has to be done about that stupid rule that both benches get a warning when one side started the whole thing. The other pitcher threw at A-Rod to start the whole thing and nothing happens to him at all. That seems totally unfair. They did it two nights in a row and nothing happened to them. This rule has to be looked and changed so that the correct team is held responsible.
Reply
8-10-2007 @ 7:54AM
JAES said...
I am the furthest thing from a Yankee fan, but "Good job Clemens". The only thing that has kept baseball from becoming the "In your face, show up your opponant, dance in the end zone, ME,ME,ME game that football and basketball have become, is the "bean ball". Now, I have never condoned hitting someone in the head, but a 95 MPH fastball in the back or in the ribs will certainly keep the Terrel Owens' out of baseball.
Boycott the Big 3. MLB and NFL on 09/16/07 and the NBA on 11/06/07. Send a message to the owners to get the criminals, the drug addicts, and the immoral a-holes out of the game. OUT OF OUR GAME!
Reply
8-10-2007 @ 9:43AM
Harry said...
A 5 day suspension is ridiculous !
More "babble" and "what is that" from the MLB hierarchy....but, it gets Bonds off center stage.
Reply
8-10-2007 @ 11:18AM
Jon Yoon said...
What's ridiculous is that A-Rod was plunked two days in a row on obvious "retaliation" pitches and the Jays don't get even so much as a warning from the umpires. It's one thing to accidentally bean a guy, but to throw behind a guy at a guy's knees, no excuse for that.
No excuse for that. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me once, shame on you. Shame on the MLB.
Reply
8-13-2007 @ 1:07AM
George B Vieto said...
Roger Clemens was just doing the right thing by standing up for his teammates by hitting a Blue Jays batter as payback for the Blue Jays pitchers hitting Alex Rodriguez. Hometown umpiring on this call.
Reply