Shame of the Red Sox
Posted on August 19th, 2013 in Uncategorized | 14 Comments »
I saw last night one of the most unpleasant incidents I’ve ever seen on a baseball diamond. Naturally it came from a Red Sox.
With Alex Rodriguez hitting for the first time last night, Red Sox starter Ryan Dempster threw at him on the first pitch. The ball actually went behind Rodriguez. Then he threw high and tight on the next two pitches. Then, apparently upset that he’d missed the first time, Dempster hit A-Rod in the back, not far from the head.
In a moment that I’d love to see them explain to their children, the Boston animals fans roared with approval.
This from a city whose players—and players’ sons—commit murder. (And the Jerry Remy thing is so deeply sad.)
How Dempster was not immediately thrown out of the game, I don’t understand. Yankee manager Joe Girardi, to his credit, defended his player so forcefully that he was thrown out of the game. As a parting shot, he called Dempster a “fucking coward,” which he is. Standing 60 feet away from someone and throwing a baseball at 90-plus miles an hour at his body isn’t a principled move, and it’s certainly not a courageous one. Now Dempster doesn’t even have the balls to take responsibility for his actions and admit that he did it on purpose. I guess he doesn’t want to get suspended.
As the Globe’s Nick Cafardo writes,
What was served by this act by Dempster? That he and other players hate A-Rod? They already hate him.
Is A-Rod the first guy to take steroids? Did pitchers plunk Barry Bonds because he took steroids? Or Mark McGwire? Or Sammy Sosa? Did they plunk Melky Cabrera after he returned from his 50-game suspension?
Rather convenient of Cafardo not to mention the possibility that, well, certain Red Sox players have surely taken steroids.
I understand that Alex Rodriguez isn’t a well-liked guy. He’s certainly not my favorite Yankee. But what happened last night was bush league even by Boston standards. Ryan Dempster and the Red Sox fans have done their team—and their organization—an enormous disservice. Let’s hope that this move backfires and causes some of the fans and players in baseball to reconsider their behavior towards A-Rod.
14 Responses
8/19/2013 9:29 am
While I share your distaste for the Red Sox, I fear the sort of boorish behavior they displayed is common across the league these days, and could certainly be seen in the Bronx.
I heartily agree with all you (and Girardi) have to say about Dempster and the Red Sox.
8/19/2013 9:33 am
In fairness, I suspect you’re right that if a similar incident happened in the Bronx, many fans would cheer.
I don’t think a Yankee pitcher would pull that stunt, though.
8/19/2013 9:48 am
I hope you are right.
8/19/2013 11:44 am
No, I’m not a Red Sox fan, so I’m not going to Boston fans. Still, it’s interesting to wonder if Dempster did it because A-Rod has earned contempt in baseball as a cheat, or because A-Rod broke the player’s code by ratting out Ryan Braun. Either way, isn’t it nice to see such a despicable cheater pay some price for his actions? I’m sorry, he wasn’t hit anywhere near his head — it was right on the shoulder. And obviously he wasn’t hurt.
In any case, it speaks volumes that the Yankees did not retaliate. Yes, Giardi got ejected, and yes, A-Rod hit the homer and got his revenge. Still, the way the game is played is you dink one of their players too even if it means you get ejected. Maybe not Sabathia — that could cost the game — but one of the relievers should. They didn’t do that.
8/19/2013 1:10 pm
NRSF, I think it’s unclear whether or not A-Rod leaked this Biogenesis client list that he’s been accused of leaking, but I agree that it’s an interesting question: Is the perceived outrage that he cheated (that’s clearly what Boston fans were up in arms about) or that he allegedly exposed someone else? Very different things.
I think you’re reading the wrong thing into the lack of retaliation. The players clearly seemed to rally around A-Rod, and they opted to focus on winning the game rather than hitting someone. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a Red Sox get beaned the next time the two teams play.
Finally, if you look at the trajectory of that ball, it’s headed upward. Yeah, A-Rod spins and falls away, and it hits him in the elbow, then mid-back. But a) it’s a fastball, which you don’t do, because that’s how people can really get hurt, and b) it’s definitely moving up. Not cool. And remember: Dempster’s accuracy wasn’t good enough to hit him the first time he tried…
8/19/2013 4:27 pm
Paragraph 4 is totally uncalled for. Linking murder with a player’s actions and the reaction of the fans is a bit over the top.
I recently attended an Orioles game in Baltimore and almost left the game early because of the disgusting behavior of a group or young men seated behind me. Alas, I think boorishness is almost everywhere these days.
8/19/2013 4:47 pm
Agreed about the boorishness, Anon. But I do think that, given the two murders connected to Boston sports teams in the past couple of months, Boston fans ought to keep A-Rod’s alleged crimes in perspective. Violence in sports is not something they should be applauding right now.
8/19/2013 5:10 pm
I agree this was low class as well as stupid, but I am not sure it was outrageous by contemporary baseball-culture standards. The ump reacted so swiftly that it was clear he had no doubt what was going on. But he did not toss Dempster, and his failure to do so suggests to me that MLB does not share your view of how awful it was. Any idea exactly what Girardi said that got him tossed? It was apparently worse (by MLB standards) than the pitch was, because I don’t think Girardi touched the ump, which would have been an automatic ejection if I have that right.
Seems to me Dempster should have been tossed, but what do I know.
8/19/2013 8:00 pm
I thought the ump just erred in not tossing Dempster, rather than his choice being a reflection of MLB’s view. It was a lousy call by a home-team ump.
8/19/2013 8:07 pm
Oh, sorry, forgot-I don’t know what Girardi said that got him tossed-it might have been the fact that he (unintentionally, it looks like) almost punched the ump in the face-but I believe that *after* he got tossed, he called Dempster a “pussy.” Which sounds about right to me.
8/19/2013 8:11 pm
All umps are home team umps, cf. Scorecasting. It was just odd — he reacted so quickly that it seemed that he had anticipated it, at least by a couple of pitches, and maybe going into the game. So I assumed it was not a flash decision.
8/19/2013 8:19 pm
A home team ump in the sense that the player whom he should have tossed out of the game but did not happened to be a player on the home team…Haven’t people done some research about the percentage of umpire calls that favor the home team, probably because the umps don’t want (likely on a subconscious level) to incur the fans’ wrath….
My thought about his quick reaction was that he had time between Dempster’s first attempt to hit A-Rod and his second (or was it his 4th?) to figure out what he wanted to do if A-Rod did get hit….
8/19/2013 8:38 pm
Yes, it is the conclusion of one of the chapters of Scorecasting that home field advantage (in all sports) is the result of umpire sensitivity to crowd reaction. Has nothing to do with travel fatigue, etc. The advantage disappears if the venue is empty of spectators (there are enough examples of that due to hooliganism in British soccer to get the data). And the advantage is largest in venues where the crowd is closest to the playing field, like I don’t know where ….
First pitch was behind him. Second and third were up and in, brushback pitches. He was hit on a 3-0 pitch, and that is why I think the ump’s reaction was premeditated.
8/20/2013 8:26 am
I find I neglected to affirm that A-Rod is a total dirtbag.