Misdirected Retaliation

I'm going to be perfectly honest with you. Disclaimer: I'm a big big fan of the San Francisco Giants. I have been my whole life. They are my favorite team in all of sports.  However, I follow all of baseball not just one team. I try to see things as objectively as possible.

The beaning and altercations in last nights game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants was misdirected retaliation. I do not agree with how the Diamondbacks and their announcers handled and interrupted the situation.

I will explain why but first let's recap the series of events.

Jean Segura leads off the game for the Diamondbacks with a first pitch home run off of Giant's Jeff Samardzija. Samardzija then gives up another run in the top of the first.
As a Giants fan, I'm thinking, "Oh great here we go again, Jeff get it together."
To his credit he did. He went on to shut down the Arizona offense for the rest of his time on the mound.

During Segura's next at bat, the Giants throw inside on him and hit him in the elbow, and I will say I bet that hurt a lot. When I watch Segura play, I notice he sticks his elbow out over the palate. Not shocking he got beaned. I do not feel it was intentional.

Side note: I live in Arizona currently, the Phoenix area, I subscribe to MLB's At Bat so I can watch my Giants play and I can hear the nostalgic play-by- play calls from the great Duane Kuiper and Mike Krakow. Much like myself, they call it how it is. That's refreshing to me. However, when the Giants play against the Diamondbacks I'm blacked out and can only watch them on local broadcast with Diamondback announcers.

Arizona Announcers, Steve Berthiaume and Tom Candiotti reacted with Segura getting hit by bringing up how Segura was beaned in the same exact spot in the previous game playing the San Diego Padres and has a history of being beaned.

Looking at the replay, I see Segura leaning over the plate like usual, the Giants try to pitch him inside. He hits hit. Shocking! Well Folks, That's Baseball!  I think, "Oh well, take your base." The Giants get out of the inning and come to bat.


Buster Posey comes up for the Giants. Patrick Corbin is pitcher for the Diamondbacks.
Corbin throws one inside on Posey that makes him have to move his feet. I think nothing of it, Posey thinks nothing of it. The next pitch is behind Posey. The rest of the stadium, including Posey and myself are thinking 'What the heck, man!'

The home plate umpire immediately comes out and warns the pitcher and both dugouts. Manager of the Giants, Bruce Bochy comes tearing out of the dugout to argue. Why they are being warned since they have done nothing?  He may have said some not so nice words because he was ejected pretty quick.

Diamondback announcers being narrow sighted,  proceed to say good for Corbin, thats how you protect your players. Um, what? Are you kidding me? Protect from what? Do they not watch baseball? Do they not know anything about who they are playing?

The Giants are not a team who will bean a player after a home run. That's not how Bochy coaches his teams. The Giants don't need to bean you they will just beat you.

Segura stop leaning over the plate if you don't want to get hit. This is not a conspiracy... except maybe for the Pirates. They seem to not like the Diamondbacks.

Ding Ding Ding.... Here is the meat of the issue. It's not about the Giants, it's not about the Padres, it's about the Pirates.

The announcers reference, earlier in their season, when the Diamondbacks played the Pirates and how they kept getting beaned by them.  I know exactly what they are talking about.

For, at least, the past two seasons the Pittsburgh Pirates and Diamondbacks have had a mini bean ball war.  This season, the Pirates straight punked the Diamondbacks and Arizona did absolutely nothing about it. They received criticism.

Now up a big dose of Misdirected Retaliation:

In consecutive games, this one against San Francisco and the other against San Diego, Segura has been beaned in the elbow. The Diamondbacks chose not to do anything against San Diego, but felt they needed to prove a point against San Francisco.

The Diamondbacks throw at not only, the Giant's best player, but one of the faces of the league.
I am not sure who made the decision to throw at a Giants player but it makes the coaches, the players, and the announcers look like poor sports.

Hey Diamondbacks, now is not the right time to get even. You had your chance in Pittsburgh to set things straight, but you chose not to.

This seems like a case, where said guy, experienced being bullied over and over again. He chooses not to or doesn't know how to stand up to the bully in the moment. Later on, being sensitive to the past experience, said guy is in the grocery store and someone bumps his cart. It triggers him and brings back the same feelings.  He misunderstands the situation. Not wanting to make the same mistakes, he overreacts at the unintentional bump.  He misdirects his anger and frustration of past events. I say this with the utmost respect for people who have been bullied. Myself included.

Giants fans get the last laugh on this one. What you can only hope happens, does! Brandon Crawford comes to bat for the Giants, directly after Posey was walked. He crushes a two run home run! The Giants tie the game and go on to beat Arizona 6-2.  Karma at it's finest. Now that is how you retaliate!

Hopefully, that gave Brochy a chuckle.

A Quick Rant - Why?

I'm just going to get into it.

I think what Ryan Dempster did Sunday was atrocious. If you didn't see or hear about it I will give the quick version.

Red Sox pitcher Ryan Dempster
August 18, 2013

Alex Rodriguez came up to bat in his first plate appearance. Rodriguez is going through some legal issues with PEDs with the league and his team, and there is controversy, but that is off the field stuff. What happens on the field has nothing to do with any of that.

Ryan Dempster apparently feels like he is the law of the land. His first pitch to Rodriguez was thrown behind him! Behind him! He is a Major League Baseball Pitcher! He has the control to never be able to do that. Rodriguez shrugs it off and gets back in the box. The next two pitches are high and tight. You can see Rodriguez getting a little mad. That makes three pitches trying to connect with Rodriguez. The fourth pitch from Dempster (surprise surprise) drills Rodriguez in the back.

Dempster's third pitch of the at bat
hits Yankees Alex Rodriguez in the back.

Why? Why Dempster? Why did you feel you had to do that? What Rodriguez is going through off the field has nothing to do with you. Who made you judge, jury, and executioner? And then you manager gives the weak excuse of 'He was having trouble locating his fastball'. Funny, because no other pitch in the game for Dempster was as "wild" as that one at bat. Just a classless move on his part and of the Red Sox manager.

What Rodriguez is doing to defend himself against the league is within the MLBPA regulations. Guess what Dempster you are a member of that and voted for the protection players get.

I may not agree with what Alex Rodriguez has done in the past, but nobody deserves a fastball to the head. He is still a son, brother, father, and MOST of all a human being. It makes me sick when athletes feel they need to take the law in their own hands.

Rodriguez celebrating with teammates
after his 6th inning home run
against Dempster

What Alex Rodriguez did to get his revenge on Dempster is what any true athlete would do. In one of his next at bats Rodriguez hit a long home run off of Dempster and then celebrated with his teammates in the dugout. How it should be.

The home run propelled the Yankees to a victory over the Red Sox, with Dempster getting the loss. Baseball karma at its finest.

Just to show what type of team and organization the Yankees are, no Red Sox player was hit during that game.

Steriods aside, how do you feel about Dempster's actions?

For the love and the game

The Major League Baseball season is coming down the home stretch. With mid-August approaching, baseball experts are talking magic numbers and wild cards. We are starting to get an idea of which teams are going to the playoffs and which teams are going home early. Certain teams are "running away" with their division. It looks like the Braves, Dodgers, and Tigers can just about go into cruise control to finish off the season. There are also the close division races. Can the Red Sox hold off the Rays and Orioles? Are the Rangers going to deliver pay back to the Athletics for last year? And, what is going on in the NL Central? The Pirates, Cardinals, and Reds are going to have a sprint to the finish. The odds are nearly all those teams I just named are going to make the playoffs. With an additional wild card team now added to the format, the Pennant Race just doesn't quite feel the same. And that's fine with me. I think more teams in the playoffs is a good thing in the end.
   

L.J. Hoes hits his first career home run
8/18/13 (Astros Facebook page)

But, lets look at the calendar... It's August still! We still have over a month left of regular season games. Now I get the lure of the World Series. It's an amazing event. But for me, baseball is so much more.   There's still a lot of hot days to be had and exciting nights left in the season. With so much attention going towards the teams that are going to make the playoffs, I think we should not forget about the rest of the league. Just because a team is 15 games out of first place or straight up in last place doesn't mean we should ignore them or their fans (except for the occasional web gem). Fans should see their team through. From the beginning of spring training to whatever end they are destined for in the fall.

Riding the highs and lows of the season with your team is what makes baseball such a love affair. Though your guys may go home when the leaves change color, doesn't mean they still can't make history. Though possibly not in a spot for playoffs, your guys could still pitch a perfect game or hit an inside the park home run. There is still so many moments to see. Baseball is a game full of emotions. In two consecutive days you can experience the highest of highs and then the next day the lowest of lows. But that's what makes it fun!

It's baseball. The GREATEST game there is.

Mets young star, Matt Harvey has first career
complete game shut out 8-8-13
(Mets Facebook page)

It's the smell of the grass, the crack of the bat, the seventh inning stretch! Baseball is definitely more about it's intangibles then it is just about winning. It's more than home runs and strike outs. The game is an art form, and like all art you have to know what you are looking at to really appreciate it. How many people do you think know what a cut fastball is? What about the 5-4-3 double play? These are the type of things you start to learn when you love the game. When the game grabs your heart.  It will make every pitch and play exciting.

Emotionally investing in a team, the players, the traditions will make any day with baseball being played the best day ever. Following your team throughout the season will not only show you who the best pitchers and hitters are but also who are the pranksters or leaders of the team. Being able to see the personality of your team brings you closer to them. The whole family atmosphere a team tries to share with its fans is a magical thing, and again it doesn't matter if your team is going to the playoffs or not.

The last reason not to give up on your team if October seems out of reach...
The pride of watching your team knock out another team out of the playoffs. Think about it, your team is out. They're eliminated from playoff contention, but they are still battling. There is no quit in them.  Just think back to the 2011 season when the Orioles, who had nothing to play for, miraculously defeated the Red Sox and ended their season. That little victory is enough to savor through the off season.

Getting to the end of the season and seeing it all brings everything together. The little details, witnessing the milestones of your favorite players, being at the park and sharing the game with family, friends, and other fans is why the entire season matters. You are part of the team. Never give up on the season. There is always something new to see. Most importantly, the players never give up on the field and that's why you should never give up the on the support they need. Isn't that what being a fan is all about?

Angel Pagan's inside the park home run giving the Giants
an extra innings victory 5-25-13
(Giants Facebook page)

Oh yeah, I'm a Giants fan. As of this moment WE are 16.5 games out of first place.  I will never give up on my team. Hey, anything can happen.