ML Baseball 2005 discussion thread (1 Viewer)

[Joe Karlosi]

It's presently 16 runs for the METS, and counting, in tonight's game. And 7 Homers in one game - a new team record!

 

[Joseph S]

AL East Killer a.k.a Shea Hillenbrand went 2-5 lowering his avg to .426. His last hit advanced the winning run and would have scored the winning run if the runner touched home plate. The Jays move ahead of former second place Sox in a managerial nightmare by Terry Francona.

In other news, wife abuser David Justice and the rest of Georgie's YES broadcast team saw their last place Yankees and Randy Johnson fall to the D-Rays.

 

[Shane Martin]

Dodgers are 11-2. Color me and the rest of the world surprised. Depodesta is earning his paycheck thus far. They are doing it w/o Gagne who is hurt and a few other starting pitchers.

They still need a bat at first base though. I don't think Choi will last.

 

[Joseph S]

Bob Watson is still full of crap and his actions continue to show his job remains being a Yankee employee.

Once again the Yankee gets off with nothing. Where was that lame excuse for Milton Bradley who threw a plastic bottle thrown at him onto the ground? How about Francisco Franco? He threw the chair in self defense and then fully restrained himself like poor little Gary.

He suspended Pedro for not hitting a batter. He suspended Nixon for swinging at a pitch. Then he suspended Kapler for being put in a headlock. Suspended Nixon and Kapler for trying to break up a fight.

Jeff Nelson - beat up a bullpen attendant who cheered for Red Sox - ZERO Suspension or fine
Karim Garcia - same as above - ZERO suspension or fine
Gary Sheffield - punches fan with baseball, shoves with glove, puts fear in kid and two women fans - ZERO suspension or fine
Roger Clemens - Beans Piazza, Later throws bat at him - ZERO Suspension or fine for any of the incidents
Jorge Posada - Spits on umpire - Suspension reduced from paltry 6 to 5. Where was that for Alomar?
and the list goes on...

 

[Shane Martin]

Oh please, Sheffield didn't deserve a suspension. Then again I'm not a biased Red Sox fan.

 

[Joseph S]

I don't see bias in this issue, go look up the suspensions for Yankees versus non Yankees under Bob Watson. The numbers back it up. The fact is in this case and the last case with Nelson and Garcia is, you don't hit fans and you don't hit employees of the stadium. You call security.

In all three cases when Yankee employees were involved nobody was fined or suspended by Watson. In all cases of non Yankee players, the individuals were both suspended for lengthy periods and fined for each and every incident by Watson.


Well he missed the cutoff man, so the first part is wrong. I also thought Mr. Watson said he was trying to "extricate himself from the situation and to avoid further abuse?" Yeah, he did in the first half the sentence. Hmm, which one is it?

 

[Shane Martin]

Of course you don't. Bias is an issue here because it comes down to do you think Sheff deserved a suspension for what he did. I do not. Sheff didn't escalate the issue once he confronted the fan and any player would have confronted the fan. He certainly didn't escalate the issue.

Regardless I don't see this going anywhere.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Well, I admittedly am, but I think you have to give Sheffield a suspension as a matter of policy - players cannot be hitting fans in the stands for any reason. Period, end of story. Yes, it may be human nature for Sheff to hit back, but he can't be allowed to do that. It could lead to players jumping into the stands to beat up double-amputee hecklers.

Should the suspension be terribly long? Probably not. But I think it has to be mandatory, if only from a "rules are rules" standpoint.

 

[Joseph S]

No, they wouldn't have.

 

[Shane Martin]

Although Derek Lowe did his best, the Dodgers weren't able to get him enough runs scored before they pulled him. Still 8 innings, 1 unearned run is quite good. He's 1-1 with a 1.17 era. I'm liking what I'm seeing thus far from him. This euphoria may wear off though.

Still I can't complain. They are 12-2 and have the best record in baseball with the White Sox having the 2nd best at 12-4. This is all w/o Gagne or Penny whom are both coming back soon. In Depodesta I trust.

Moving on:
Yes they would. Do you wish to continue this guessing game nonsense? I don't have a team involved here and could honestly careless the result but I felt that he wasn't going to get punished and he didn't.

 

[Joseph S]

I don't see a guesing game. We have the video and we have the result from MLB. We have the video of the previous incidents and we have those results from MLB.

MLB has three times endorsed Yankee players beating up the bullpen attendant and/or fans in both unprovoked and provoked situations. That's clearly the opposite impression of what David Stern left on NBA fans.

You cannot have players attacking fans. It puts others, including MLB, at risk in the process.

 

[John Alvarez]

I guess Heilman found last night that he won't keep the Marlins to one hit every night....

 

[Eric Peterson]

There is one huge error in your statement. You use the word "FAN". Those morons don't even deserve to be mentioned in the same paragraph as a "FAN".

Personally, I don't think Sheffield overreacted at all, and I hate the Yankees, and don't like Sheffield much more. He did not attack the "JERKS" (Better Term), he simply swiped back at them, which a natural response that anyone would do if caught in that situation. He went over towards the wall to field a ball, and when his head was down, he was interfered with (The last thing a player should expect!). After that, he simply went into defensive mode (i.e. fists raised), and can you blame him with all of the shit that "JERKS" (A better term again) have pulled in recent years? At this point, Sheffield has no idea what this guy might do (He might throw a punch, or an object, he might even charge him (That's been done several times). After security arrived, the situation was diffused. Sure, it would have been better had Sheffield not swiped back, but it also would have been better if the "JERKS" had not interfered with him. Let's not forget who started this.

Personally, I think anyone who leans over the wall to go after a ball (Fair or Foul - Dead or Alive) should be escorted out of the park. According to me, the ball doesn't belong to the attendees of the game until it enters the stands, not when it approaches the stands.

....and no, this isn't my opinion since the "BARTMAN" issue. This has always been my opinion.

If somebody can't go to a game without interfering or assuming that every ball hit is their property, then they shouldn't be allowed in the park.

 

[Rick Deschaine]

From Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe.

Link to article, article is below the link (obviously)
http://www.boston.com/sports/basebal...cident?mode=PF


COMMENTARY
No fan of talk about incident
By Bob Ryan, Globe Staff | April 21, 2005

BALTIMORE -- Stop the madness.

Please!

Please?

We are now one week into an episode that should have been in our conversational rearview mirror no later than last weekend. But it goes on and on and on, and now the Boston police are injecting themselves into the matter. The police are seeking charges against two fans who had their little moment of infamy in the April 14 game against the Yankees, and Gary Sheffield, who is supposed to be a tough guy, is still acting as if someone beat him senseless while he was in pursuit of a batted ball. I mean, listening to him babble on, I'm wondering why he isn't in intensive care, rather than batting third for the Yankees.

This is all beyond ridiculous. I will repeat what I said last Thursday night. When it was all said and done, do you know what exactly happened?

Nothing.

Post Edited By Administrator - Please, Do Not Post Copyrighted Articles In Their Entirety

 

[Andrew Pezzo]

Eve though I am Yankee fan I think the whole thing is gotten a little out of control. However, eventually some fan is going to be made an example of because these things NEED TO STOP. The fan clearly leaned into the field of play and came no where close to coming to the ball. For this reason only its nice to finally see some action taken against fans that go where they shouldn't. And Sheffield deserves some credit because he was about to clock the guy after the play but held back. I don't think many other players would have restrained themselves.

And about the article above - this is the most ridiculous thing I have read, blaming Gary for this just because he didn't play the ball perfectly???

 

[Eric Peterson]

Very good article. I think that pretty well describes my position on the entire thing. The fans should be punished, Sheffield should be fined (not suspended), and people need to learn to stop interfering or greater actions will have to be taken.

I also agree that this case has no business clogging up the courts in our already troubled legal system.

 

[Rick Deschaine]

Maybe the article is a bit over the top..

but I thought the comment of Sheffield bragging about getting shot then taking his time to get a haircut before seeking medical help... Just priceless! A swipe from a fan is more of a crisis! Of course only if this info is true.


At any rate, legal action should not be taken and let's let this thing rest shall we?

 

[Eric Peterson]

Well, Nomar is out 2-3 months and maybe the rest of the season if he opts for surgery.

 

[Joseph S]

As usual, Ron Jackson, not a Yankee, was just suspended and fined for arguing after being thrown out by the moronic ump Gibson during the Sheffield game.

He was arguing because he was thrown out by the umpire who claimed he read his lips. Problem was, Ron Jackson was in the concrete enforced tunnel and not visible.

Way to go Bob Watson, former Yankee GM. The umpire, Gibson, deserved the suspension and fine for creating chaos and on both sides with his horrifically inconsistent strike zone that night.

Update:
Terry Francona, also not a Yankee, was fined as well for who knows what during the Sheffield game. Calmly walking out? Saying, "did you throw me out?" Bob Watson is a complete fraud.

 

[Brian Perry]

Tonight Dusty showed why he's a horrible in-game manager. With the game still on the line in the 8th, he pulls pitcher Michael Wuertz (who had just mowed down the four Cardinals he faced) and replaced him with Mike Remlinger to face Larry Walker, apparently for the lefty/lefty matchup.

However, Remlinger has shown he can't get lefties out (they bat over .300 against him vs.