Wednesday, August 5, 2009

It's On Like Donkey Kong

To those still watching in the ninth inning of yesterday's 17-4 trumping, Prince Fielder was hit in what appeared to be a retaliatory effort to Manny Ramirez getting plunked earlier in the game. He appeared irked and miffed about the scenario while it was happening; however, it wasn't until after the final out that the hefty lefty decided to make his presence felt...
Not even Prince Fielder really knows what he might have done if a phalanx of security guards and teammates hadn't prevented the furious Milwaukee Brewers slugger from entering the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse after a ninth-inning beaning.

Several teammates trailed behind him in a surreal scene, but Bill Hall and Casey McGehee got a firm grip on Fielder while a wall of security blocked his way.

And nobody is sure how the Brewers and the Dodgers will react in Wednesday's season finale after Los Angeles' impressive 17-4 victory Tuesday night degenerated into retaliation, recrimination and a regrettable charge through the Dodger Stadium tunnels by the Brewers' All-Star first baseman.

Even more surprising was Russell Martins acknowledgment surrounding the beaning. Usually players are quick to deny anything, but that wasn't the case here...

"It's just part of the game," Martin said. "Our premier hitter gets hit, and he gets protection. I understand [Fielder] is frustrated, but you don't take care of that after the game."

"We don't want the same situation as last year in the playoffs, when Philly threw at Manny and we didn't retaliate," Martin said, referring to last fall's NL championship series against the Phillies. "We don't want to be known as a team that doesn't have each other's backs."

Often times, a good night sleep will ease some tension so let's hope that's the case here. If not, perhaps Andre Ethier could lead them in group session of yoga.

1 comment:

Doc said...

I remember when Mike Piazza (as a Met) wanting to fight Mota back in the day.

Here's the story:

He showered and dressed and walked to Brian Jordan's waiting white Range Rover, which Jordan retrieved from the parking lot and brought inside the security gates. With Jordan at the wheel, he and Mota departed with the game still in the sixth inning.

Five minutes later, Piazza left the Mets clubhouse without speaking to reporters, drove his BMW to the entrance of the Dodger clubhouse, and entered. Visibly agitated, Piazza approached equipment manager Jerry Turner, then trainer Stan Johnston.

"Where's Mota?" Piazza repeated. "Where's Mota?"


Told Mota had left, Piazza checked the trainer's room and looked into the shower, then scanned the lockers before he finally left.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20030313&content_id=218691&vkey=spt2003news&fext=.jsp&c_id=null