May 2017 MLB Game Thread
- Thread starter DanoooME
- Start date
I get that Strickland was out of line and that what he did was selfish, but this isn't a great look for Posey. Here were his comments after the game:
San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey stayed back behind the plate instead of rushing into the fray. He told reporters that it was dangerous, especially as he saw teammates bigger than him get rocked, according to KNBR.
"You see Mike Morse, is about as big as they come, and he was getting knocked around like a pinball," Posey said. "So ... be a little dangerous to get in there sometimes."
Edit - I totally forgot that Posey was coming off a concussion from last month. In retrospect, he probably did the smart thing.
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Phased him about as much as if it's been a feather in a gentle breeze landing on his cheek.
I just watched one of the replays from the link in Soxhop's post and Morse got absolutely trucked by one of his own teammates that came flying in from the bench who I assume was aiming for Harper.
That's impressive. Samardzija managed to take out two of his own teammates, and himself in the process.
I don't get the Harper hate (which probably surprises nobody), but between Trout getting injured and now Harper likely getting suspended for a bit, this is a rough week if you are a fan of the baseball youth movement. Screw Strickland.... no reason to throw at a guy three fucking years later.
I don't get the Harper hate (which probably surprises nobody), but between Trout getting injured and now Harper likely getting suspended for a bit, this is a rough week if you are a fan of the baseball youth movement. Screw Strickland.... no reason to throw at a guy three fucking years later.
One of these times, a pitcher is just going to get charged with assault the same way hockey eventually dealt with players hitting each other with sticks.
Honestly, I wouldn't be that against it in cases like this - if you want to throw inside, fine. If you feel a need to send a message for a player getting spiked at 2b or something, fine. But throwing a fastball at someone for celebrating a playoff HR, 2 years later, is fucking stupid (and that's not even getting into whether Harper actually did it or not).
Honestly, I wouldn't be that against it in cases like this - if you want to throw inside, fine. If you feel a need to send a message for a player getting spiked at 2b or something, fine. But throwing a fastball at someone for celebrating a playoff HR, 2 years later, is fucking stupid (and that's not even getting into whether Harper actually did it or not).
I'm starting to wonder if there's a bit of a movement toward re-unwriting the unwritten rules around hitting batters and charging the mound. Between Posey's (and many other Giants) reaction here and Pedroia's comments about Machado getting hit perhaps some players are starting to come around in tightening up the rules a bit. Maybe not, but I can't really remember 2 high profile guys doing stuff like this before.
Throwing a fastball, or any type of pitch, at someone for any reason is fucking stupid. Throw inside, sure. And if it happens to hit someone occasionally, fine. But anything with intent is asinine. Especially when the intent is retaliation for some slight that isn't even remotely a slight (like a guy taking you deep twice in a playoff game three fucking years ago).
I think stuff like this should be met with some hard line punishment. 20 games minimum for Strickland. Suspend Harper for charging, but make it less than whatever Strickland gets. Something like that should make pitchers think twice about retaliatory plunkings.
Unfortunately, I suspect it's going to take a serious injury or worse because baseball isn't capable of handling this in-house.
It's easy to imagine the perfect storm scenario: you'll have a player who takes a pitch to the face, is a star on their team and in no way involved in whatever caused the "message" pitch, a pitcher who tried to throw at the player's numbers and the ball got away and went high into the player's face, and a family that goes to the DA and says they have a permanently disabled or dead family member as a result of someone basically throwing a rock at him in a vulnerable position, with intent to injure/harm, at 95 mph.
Or perhaps even uglier, it happens in college or high school with a coach instructing his pitcher to enforce the unwritten rules.
Adam Schein is painting Harper as the victim here, and while Strickland is certainly the instigator, there is an assumption that the playoff HRs happened in a vacuum, and there had been no words between the 2 players since - which is hard to believe.
And if you assume yesterday was the result of some ongoing bad blood, isn't a pitch to the backside exactly the preferred action that everyone was talking about during the BOS/BAL spat?
Sure, Strickland could have just let go of whatever happened in the past, but he chose to act in accordance with tradition... which was escalated only when Harper, also refusing to let it go, decided to start a brawl.
But Harper gets a pass.
And if you assume yesterday was the result of some ongoing bad blood, isn't a pitch to the backside exactly the preferred action that everyone was talking about during the BOS/BAL spat?
Sure, Strickland could have just let go of whatever happened in the past, but he chose to act in accordance with tradition... which was escalated only when Harper, also refusing to let it go, decided to start a brawl.
But Harper gets a pass.
Olney calls for the Giants to suspend Strickland
http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/insider/post/_/id/16772/olney-giants-should-consider-preemptively-punishing-strickland
What "tradition"? ... That if someone hits a couple of home runs against you three years ago, that you can throw at him out of the blue?
I guess the tradition is the "unwritten rule" where you plunk a guy who pimps a homerun the next time you face him even if it takes a while.
The whole thing is dumb af but it's not surprising with how childish this game can get. I mean people in the game thread were calling for Machado to get plunked for his slow trot. It didn't take 2 years but people still were still calling for it.
I don't get it at all even if I find the fisticuffs hysterical.
The whole thing is dumb af but it's not surprising with how childish this game can get. I mean people in the game thread were calling for Machado to get plunked for his slow trot. It didn't take 2 years but people still were still calling for it.
I don't get it at all even if I find the fisticuffs hysterical.
If it's that cut and dry, then your point is valid. But my rationale is predicated on the assumption that, over those 3 years, there were other perhaps more subtle encounters between the 2 players that furthered their feud.
Good that Strickland gets more games, but it's superficial and not nearly enough. Certainly not when you consider Strickland probably misses out on 2, maybe 3 appearances (call it 3-4 innings) while Harper is down for four full games (36, possibly more, innings).
What a joke. Strickland won't miss any games (he is seldom used already), Harper misses 16 or so plate appearances.
Corey Dickerson is just all over everything lately. Cricket style double....
http://mlb.mlb.com/r/video?content_id=1445238283
http://mlb.mlb.com/r/video?content_id=1445238283
Maddon's Cubs just got swept by the horrible Padres. They've lost 6 in a row and are two games under .500
That vague statement could also apply to Mets players, the Wilpons or,Terry Collins (since it says Employee and NOT Mr.Met!
Also he is innocent! He does not have a middle finger! He only has 4 fingers
Houston's offense has emerged into the superpower it could be, but I don't think their pitching will keep being this good. we'll see
What happened to the 5th? Madoff stole them?That vague statement could also apply to Mets players, the Wilpons or,Terry Collins (since it says Employee and NOT Mr.Met!
Also he is innocent! He does not have a middle finger! He only has 4 fingers
"The New York Mets have announced today that they have terminated the employment of the person portraying Mr. Met in this incident. George Glass will no longer be part of the group acting as team mascot"
