Blue Jays, Rangers Share Blame in Bench-Clearing Brawl

It's a feud that came to fruition in the 2015 ALDS, and on Sunday May 15th it escalated to become one of the uglier incidents in baseball history as far as brawls are concerned. It all started when Toronto's Jose Bautista launched a moonshot of a home run into the left field bleachers in the seventh inning of game 5 last October. The three-run blast broke the 3-3 tie and would prove to be the final nail in the Texas Rangers' coffin. Bautista certainly took advantage of the moment and milked the celebration for all it was worth. To say that Bautista did a "bat flip" before rounding the bases would be an understatement. The Blue Jays' right fielder stared back at the mound before lofting his bat a solid nine, maybe ten feet in the air before heading towards first. That's all well and good, there are no written rules against that, but Bautista should not be surprised that the Rangers aren't big fans of his.

Bautista's bat flip still matters in Texas seven months later

What happened yesterday is inexcusable on the part of both teams. If the Rangers wanted to hit Bautista, there is no problem with that at all. I don't like the bat flipping and the desire to bring celebration into baseball, but there's no stopping it. On the other hand, hitters are foolish if they think that they'll get away with celebratory antics without paying a consequence. Baseball is a game that is well over a hundred years old which means the expectations and standards of the game have been around longer than any player in the league right now. You learn about the unwritten rules as soon as you pick up a baseball and play catch and "The Code" surrounds every single game played. And I hate to break the hearts of the Bryce Harpers of the world but guess what? It always will.

Pitchers are not going to change. Baseball is a game that has demanded respect and class since it came into being and to think that the culture will change into one similar to football is ridiculous. It's funny to see the people on social media who were so upset about Cam Newton's touchdown dances in the winter are now advocating for more bat flips and celebrations in baseball. Is there a double standard involved here?

All that to say, the bat flip heard 'round the world started the feud, so there should be no surprise that the Rangers retaliated in yesterday's game. However, the Rangers were cowards in the way they handled it. If you're going to hit Bautista, go ahead and plunk him in the first game of the season and be done with it. Send a message, let him know what he did doesn't sit well with your team, and move on. Don't wait until you're in the seventh and final game of the season series and do it in his final at-bat because now what does that say about your team? Are you focused on winning a game? Or have you been more focused on Bautista and counting down the days until you get to hit him? Again, hitting Bautista is not the issue, but the timing of the decision to hit him was wrong.

What happened after Bautista was hit is also inexcusable. Bautista should have expected to be hit at some point and if he didn't see that coming then he's as naive as they come. Accept the bruise from the pitch and go down to first base. Don't go barreling into second base looking to intentionally injure Rougned Odor because you got hit by a pitch for acting like a fool after you hit a home run. That shows a complete lack of class and it's a bush league play considering we've seen serious injuries happen to both Jung Ho Kang of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Ruben Tejada, formerly of the New York Mets, on plays that occurred because of late slides. For that, Bautista is clearly at fault for what ultimately started the brawl.

On the other hand, Odor should receive his fair share of discipline for cleaning Bautista's clock after the slide. In the moment, it's not easy to pull yourself together and brush it off when a guy comes in hard looking to tear up your knee, but to hit a guy with a full-on right hook from hell shows a true lack of self-control. Odor wasn't hurt on the play and Bautista was inevitably going to be called for interference, granting the Rangers both the second and third outs of the inning. Instead of letting Bautista be the one who received the discipline, Odor started the ugliest brawl the MLB has seen in quite some time. For that, both players are at fault and should receive heavy discipline.

The punch that cleared the benches

Is the game of baseball changing? Maybe. It's hard to tell because it's always going to be black and white. There is no grey area when it comes to certain topics, in this case celebrations. Should players be "allowed" to celebrate? They already are. There's no rule saying they can't. Hitters just need to remember that this isn't football where celebrating is considered part of the game. Baseball demands more class and because of that the old-fashioned players will always take exception to moments where they feel like they're being shown up or disrespected. That is not going to change and fans need to recognize and appreciate that. There is a fine line between celebrating and acting like a clown, and Bautista's bat flip crossed that line. With that being said, the Rangers could not have handled the situation any worse than they did for multiple reasons. The timing and reaction to Bautista's slide were both ill-advised and childish which proves they share as much blame as Bautista for the brawl that ensued.

These two teams won't meet again this year unless they match up in the playoffs like they did last year. Should they happen to play one another again there's no telling what will happen. One would like to think that this can all be laid to rest now that they've aired out their frustration, but baseball players have long memories. We have most likely not seen the last of the bad blood between these two teams.

Pitchers' Complaints Over Unwritten Rules Growing Old

After giving up a bomb that landed on Waveland Avenue last night in the Chicago Cubs' 1-0 loss to the San Diego Padres, John Lackey became the latest MLB pitcher to complain about a batter's post-homer celebration. Christian Bethancourt's solo blast was the only run of the game and he took a minute to watch it go. Lackey took exception and had a few things to say afterwards.

The following is from ESPN's Jesse Rogers:

""How many home runs does he have?" Lackey asked sarcastically after the game.

Wednesday was Bethancourt's third of the season, and it was a monster blast to left that landed on the street outside Wrigley Field. Bethancourt watched it for a moment before rounding the bases.

"I got a long memory," said Lackey (4-2), who took the loss after going eight innings and allowing a run on three hits, with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Bethancourt and Lackey don't have a history; this was the first meeting between hitter and pitcher, which Lackey was well aware of.

"Oh, I know," Lackey said. "He'll learn.""

You can watch the highlights here.

This is a tiresome subject that seems to be a hot topic this season. Bryce Harper made headlines for trying to make baseball fun again, and last season Jose Bautista's bat flip in the ALDS drew the ire of pitchers young and old. Harper called baseball a "tired sport because you can't express yourself" and, quite frankly, he's right. Any emotion from a hitter is seen as disrespect and it has to stop.

Goose Gossage went on a rant during spring training and called Bautista a "disgrace to the game." His comments were a perfect illustration of the old-school players and his thoughts seem to still ring true with some pitchers today.

Baseball currently is a one-way street and it's an annoyance. Pitchers can yell, scream and stare down a hitter after a big strikeout, but batters aren't allowed to take a look at a home run that travels over 400 feet. Give me a break. It seems that there is still some lingering thought that baseball should be a gentleman's game, but that went by the wayside when players started wearing hairstyles more suited for rock stars (i.e. Josh Donaldson) and teams started sporting lumberjack beards. You can forget that notion and understand that baseball has changed. Get with the times.

It's unfair for pitchers to think that hitters should show respect to them, but pitchers don't need to return the favor. A pitcher can get upset with a hitter and throw a 95-mph fastball into their ribs. What can a batter do if they feel disrespected by a pitcher? This has to be a two-way street.

When Harper first made his comments a few months ago, I disagreed with what he was saying. My stance has changed though. I'm tired of guys like John Lackey getting upset for allowing a home run. I'm tired of guys like Goose Gossage calling people a disgrace to the game because they hit the biggest home run of their life. Get over yourself, pitchers.

There certainly is a line for celebrating, and when it's crossed retaliation is warranted, but that line is not what Christian Bethancourt did last night. I side with Harper: let's make baseball fun again. For that to happen pitchers need to get over themselves. 

MLB All-Star Break Swings and Misses

Another Midsummer Classic has come and gone for Major League Baseball and it is always hit or miss when it comes to the All-Star festivities. Minneapolis seemed to be a great host in a great ballpark, but there was plenty that went wrong. It is clear that there needs to be a change if the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby are going to continue as must-see television. Here are a few of my thoughts on the happenings this weekend.

1. The Home Run Derby was awful
Normally, the Home Run Derby is the most fun part of the All-Star festivities, but this year it was a complete disaster. The weather, which is beyond anyone's control, caused the Derby to start an hour late. Once the competition finally began the league had tinkered with the format, which was regrettable to say the least. Rather than eight competitors, the event had ten with five players from each league. To combat the extra two players, MLB decided to give hitters only seven outs in the first round instead of the usual ten.

This hardly seemed to work as many players had low home run totals and the event still took hours. That brings me to my next point: the event is too long. The Home Run Derby lasted nearly as long as the entire All-Star Game. The new format may have been the cause of this, but whatever MLB decides to do, they need to limit the Derby to only eight players.

The new bracketed format worked against the MLB as Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Bautista each had to wait nearly two hours before they hit for the second time. Consequently, fans were hardly given the show they came to see and hurt the event. Low home run totals at a Home Run Derby is nothing to brag about and MLB will have to go back to the drawing board before Cincinnati in 2015.

2. Adam Wainwright did nothing wrong
There always has to be a story and sometimes the media has to dig pretty deep and blow something way out of proportion to make a story. This is exactly what has happened with Adam Wainwright's "pipe shot" to Derek Jeter when he led off the first inning. Before Jeter came to bat Wainwright performed one of the classiest gestures by stepping back off the mound and dropping his glove to join in the standing ovation for the soon-to-be retired Jeter. It was a beautiful moment.

To make it even more beautiful, Jeter sent a leadoff double down the line and would finish the game 2-2. Shortly after Wainwright exited the game he made a comment to reporters that he basically threw the ball right down the middle for Jeter to hit. So what? Perhaps he shouldn't have said that, but who cares if he did? It doesn't take away from the fact that it was a great night in honor of Jeter and it doesn't take away from Wainwright's classy move before the inning began.

In fact, here's why what Wainwright said is awesome: it shows that All-Star Game counting for World Series home-field advantage is the stupidest thing. That is a rule that has to go as soon as Bud Selig gets out of office. This is a fun exhibition game that is for the fans and for the players to have fun. It shouldn't count for home-field advantage and it's time to realize how silly that rule is. Props to Wainwright for a great moment and for shedding light on the fact that the game counting is dumb.

3. ESPN and FOX struggled
The coverage of the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game wasn't terrible, but there were silly mistakes and omissions in both telecasts. During ESPN's broadcast of the Derby they messed up graphics three different times. They listed Jose Bautista as a Yankees player, Troy Tulowitzki has an American League player and referred to the Marlins as the Florida Marlins. These are small things, but not mistakes you want happening with all eyes on your network. In addition, when MLB did their Stand Up To Cancer moment, Chris Berman and John Kruk's mics were still on and during what should have been a moving moment, the whole world could hear Berman say, "Should we stand up for this?" and then grunt while getting out of his chair.

The next night FOX did a decent job with the broadcast as Joe Buck always delivers. However, the night had some glaring omissions. Amid all the Jeter talk, FOX never once honored Tony Gwynn, Ralph Kiner or Don Zimmer who all passed away in the past year. The three legends of the game couldn't get a mention, but Jeter was the subject of talk all night. Not taking anything away from Jeter, but it certainly would have been a nice tribute if FOX would have honored the other three or at least mentioned them.

Lastly, CBS sent out a tweet that said it was Michael Jeter's last All-Star Game and Sports Illustrated tweeted that Mike Trout had won the MVP after going 3-2. That truly is an MVP-type game for Trout if that's the case.

All in all, it was a poor All-Star break and MLB has work to do to fix the Midsummer Classic. A change in commissioner could bring about new ideas and new life and that would certainly be welcomed. Improvements are needed across the board.

Should Major League Baseball Implement Protective Headgear?

Happ was taken off on a stretcher after being hit in the head

J.A. Happ became the latest pitcher to fall victim to a vicious line drive right back at him during a Major League Baseball game. Happ, pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays, took a Desmond Jennings' liner off the left side of his head during the second inning of last night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. He was taken off of the field on a stretcher, but fortunately he is in good condition and was released today from a Florida hospital. However, Happ's injury is becoming all too familiar in the game of baseball. It begs the question: should the MLB implement protective head gear for pitchers?

Think about it. A pitcher starts just 60 feet, six inches away from home plate. When he releases the ball he is inside 60 feet and he is throwing the ball, depending on the level of baseball, at about 80-100 miles per hour. The ball comes off of the bat even faster than that and the reaction time is so minute it's nearly impossible to get out of the way. The man must get lucky. Happ attempted to put his glove up, but it was no use. The ball hit him square and he collapsed to the Tropicana Field turf.

So far, despite the amount of injuries, Major League pitchers have not been in favor of the protective headgear. There have been talks about using padded hats or helmets, but pitchers have not liked the proposed changes. It remains to be seen what the MLB will do, but a possibility is that they could implement the headgear in the minor leagues. To have it in the Major Leagues though it would have to be passed by the MLBPA and as of now that doesn't seem likely. Also, while the padding would help, the reality is that the impact will still be absurdly forceful. Yes, some padding is better than none, but this is an issue that is difficult to fix.

Here's the other thing about pitchers that will most likely keep the protective headgear out of the game: they know the risks. Baseball is a game that has been around for a long, long time and unfortunately this is something that could very easily happen. Many pitchers have expressed that they understand the dangers of pitching and, because they do, they are able to recover and go pitch again after a horrific hit to the head.

When I was a junior in high school I had a similar thing happen to me. I took a line drive off of my rib cage and I had to go to the hospital. I was sore for quite some time and I missed a few games, but it was never really something I thought about while pitching. I think, as a pitcher, you aren't worried about those things when doing your job. With that being said, I still don't think that's an excuse to ignore the issue that is at hand.

All it will take is one man to die from a blow to the head and the game will drastically change. All sports are experiencing issues with dangerous plays. Because men are getting bigger, faster and stronger all of our games are changing. Suddenly, the games aren't what they once were. Football is more dangerous than it was 30 years ago. Baseball players can hit a ball back at a pitcher faster and harder than ever before. Hockey players are more physical than the past and the same can be said for basketball. As the science of conditioning and weight lifting continues to advance, sports will continue to get more dangerous.

The MLB should look into ways to help pitchers, but it is a very difficult problem. There is no way to fix it and it will be hard for veteran pitchers to change the gear they use after using the same stuff since they were kids. This is a change that will come the hard way or a change that will have to start at the bottom in youth baseball. It's not something that baseball can ignore, but it is something that we have to understand is part of the game.

Excitement Brewing in Toronto

Bautista's wrist injury proved detrimental to the Jays' 2012 season

Toronto has had quite the excitement in both basketball and baseball these past few weeks. The Raptors made some noise when they successfully added Rudy Gay to the roster and the Blue Jays did everything they could to acquire a dominant lineup and pitching rotation throughout the offseason. With Jose Bautista missing the second half of the season with a wrist injury last year, the Blue Jays ended with an unimpressive record of 73-89. However, before Bautista went down, the Jays were second in runs scored which clearly showed their ability to produce despite having a record of 44-45 with Bautista in the lineup. But now, as Spring Training is in full swing and the season is looming, Joey Bats is back and the Blue Jays just might make a run into October.

There is no doubt that the expectations are high in Toronto, but as other professional teams have proven, maybe high expectations only lead to laughable disappointments. Two teams immediately come to mind when talking about not performing as well as people believed they could and that would be the Philadelphia Eagles and the Miami Marlins. The Eagles, whom Vince Young referred to as a "Dream Team" in the summer of 2011, finished with an 8-8 record. Not exactly a record that could give someone bragging rights much less respect after such a bold, and somewhat stupid, comment. I can respect that Vince Young set the bar high, but that put a target on the chest of the Eagles as soon as those words were made public. The Eagles had the talent to possibly be a dominant team, but they fell short.

The Marlins on the other hand, did not run their mouths. Well, never mind, Ozzie Guillen was their manager, so of course he ran his mouth at some point. However, going off the lineup the Marlins had on paper, there simply was no reason the Marlins should not have been playing playoff baseball. They had great additions with Guillen as the new skipper, All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes joining Hanley Ramirez in the infield, and Mark Buerhle joining the starting rotation. Not to mention Giancarlo Stanton was a rising star. The Marlins had it in them, but suddenly became dysfunctional and embarrassing. They finished their season at the bottom of the NL East with a shameful record of 69-93.

Jose Reyes' signing should provide fireworks in Toronto

So this brings up the Blue Jays who now look to be a serious threat to the stacked AL East. The Orioles, Yankees, Red Sox, and Tampa Bay Rays all have recent playoff experience and Toronto just may steal the show. With the addition of R.A. Dickey, Mark Buerhle, and Josh Johnson to aid the rotation, the Blue Jays have a chance to be pretty nasty night in and night out. Their lineup got even tougher with Jose Bautista's full health coinciding with the signing of Jose Reyes and Melky Cabrera. The Jays are faced with what will presumably be the toughest division in the MLB but they have the talent and veteran leadership to possibly bring the city of Toronto a World Series trophy. For now though, it's only a possibility. Only time will tell just how serious of a contender this Blue Jays team can be. Because as we've seen before, having multiple stars isn't always guaranteed to work out.

Influx of Talent Headed to American League

Jose Reyes will make his American League debut with the Blue Jays in 2013

The rich get richer, or so the saying goes, and it's never rang truer than this winter's MLB signings. The American League, long considered superior to the National League, has acquired some of the top talent in the game for the second straight summer and taken several high profile players from the NL. While it doesn't necessarily matter in the long run, it's easy to see that if fans want to see stars then an American League game is the route they will want to take.

Michael Bourn, a Gold Glove winner and two-time winner, inked a four-year, $48 million deal with the Cleveland Indians and he became the latest NL star to switch leagues. Bourn batted .274 with nine homers, 57 RBIs and 42 steals last season for the Atlanta Braves. The speedy outfielder joins Nick Swisher, Brett Myers (also from the NL's Phillies) and manager Terry Francona on a revamped Tribe roster that promises to be more of a contender this fall.

The Indians' move is the latest in a string of trades and free agent signings that have sent stars across leagues. The Toronto Blue Jays made splashy moves earlier this winter when they acquired the reigning NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey and the 2012 All-Star Game MVP Melky Cabrera. Despite being 38-years-old, Dickey baffled opposing hitters with a knuckleball that danced, rolled, fluttered and moved in abnormal ways and he finished 2012 with a 20-6 record for the New York Mets. Cabrera batted .354 for the World Series-winning San Francisco Giants, but his season was cut short due to a failed drug test. His name was also mentioned in reports for PED use at a South Florida clinic. Regardless of his faults, Cabrera is a great pickup for the Jays in the loaded AL East.

Along with the two free agent signings, Toronto also required Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson and Jose Reyes from the Miami Marlins in a trade that defined the failures of the Miami "rebirth." Buehrle has a perfect game and 174 wins on his resume while Johnson is a 29-year-old fireballer and 2-time All-Star. Reyes, the most recognizable of the trio, has often been injured, but when healthy he is one of the best in the game. He led the NL in stolen bases three times and batted .337 in 2011.

None of these signings are as big as last summer's signings of Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, but it's obvious that the American League has lured some of the game's best players away from National League. On top of that, other stars that have left their AL ballclubs are staying in the league, rather than signing with a National League team. Josh Hamilton, Kevin Youkilis and Mike Napoli all moved within the league and it begs the question: why aren't NL teams signing the big names players?

If these signings are supposed to show in the statistics then something is wrong. Since 2003 the American League has won six of nine All-Star Games, but the NL has won the last three. The NL has also won six of the World Series since 2003, including the last three. Those statistics don't reflect the exodus of stars from the NL, but time will tell if this year is different.

As pitchers and catchers report to spring training, the American League looks to be the stronger league. They have some of the game's top managers, pitchers and hitters. However, if recent history tells us anything, it's that the big signings don't always correlate with winning the big games.