06-07-2008
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Joe Henderson: "Worth the fallout for Rays"
By JOE HENDERSON
Published: June 7, 2008
Was it worth it?
Was it worth having Carl Crawford, James Shields, Akinori Iwamura, Edwin Jackson and Jonny Gomes suspended? Was it worth essentially conceding a game where the Rays trailed by only two runs in just the second inning?
Was it worth the risk that Shields could have busted up his shoulder? Or that someone else could have been hurt in the scrum that took place in the center of the infield Thursday night at Fenway Park?
Sure it was.
Shields' only sin was his failure to follow Kevin Costner's immortal advice from the movie "Bull Durham." Shields used his pitching hand to throw the first punch when Boston's Coco Crisp charged the mound Thursday night. Never, ever use your pitching hand as a weapon when confronted by a charging fool.
Remember the spring training brawl the Rays had with the Yankees? Six weeks into the regular season the Rays were still looking back on that as a moment where they announced to the world they weren't going to take it any more. The climax to the Boston Knee Party has the potential for similar carryover.
"I have no problem with the way our guys handled things," an unrepentant Joe Maddon said Friday from Texas, where the Rays were preparing to play the Rangers. "We did not initiate any of this. It's almost the code of the playground or the code of family - you protect your own.
"It's the way with life in general. When you feel you're being attacked, you have to protect your own."
Maddon is correct on a major point. The Rays did not initiate this.
Blame It On Coco
Crisp is the guilty party.
I'm not sure what he was complaining about when he jammed his hand into the knee of Rays' shortstop Jason Bartlett, which was being used to block Crisp's path to second base. Crisp said Bartlett violated some code with the "shady" play - his term - and vowed revenge.
That was just plain silly.
When did it become against the code to keep a runner from having easy access to the base? What Bartlett did on that play was no different than a catcher blocking home plate.
In the series last month at St. Louis, Cardinals' first baseman Albert Pujols essentially did the same thing - blocking the bag when Evan Longoria tried to get back to the base. Longoria was called out. Great play by Pujols.
Anyway, you know what happened. Crisp threw a roll block into Iwamura on his next trip down the second base line - a truly dirty, dangerous play - and that set up Thursday's brawl. It was baseball street justice, and it's as old as the game. Shields didn't throw at Crisp's head or try to hurt him. He sent the proper message with a pitch that hit Crisp on the thigh.
You can understand the argument that Shields shouldn't have done it. The Rays trailed 3-1 in the second inning at the time, and there was a near certainty he would get ejected for hitting Crisp. It forced Maddon to run through a tired bullpen, which figures to get a lot more tired this weekend against the Rangers.
It had to be done, though, consequences be hanged.
"I'm on board with all of it," Maddon said.
Rough Start To The Trip
No team gets through a six-month baseball season without a bloody nose or two along the way, and the Rays just got one.
Carlos Pena broke a finger and went on the disabled list. They got the tar kicked out of them all three games in Boston and fell from first place with nearly a week on the road still to go. Now they have to scramble to fill gaps that will be left with the suspensions.
That's bad.
Failing to respond immediately, as Shields did - plunking Crisp, a serial complainer, the first time he stepped to the plate - would have been worse. You could lose more than the game. If you're James Shields, you don't leave that job to someone else.
It's old-school thinking, and everyone in the game understands that.
"It's done now," Maddon said. "That's the beauty of it. As far as we're concerned, it's over."
We'll see about that. Boston comes to the Trop on June 30 for a three-game series. When that time arrives, though, the Rays won't need to be looking over their shoulder.
They still have to figure out a way to beat the Red Sox, but at least everyone knows the Rays won't be pushed around.
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