You’ll never believe it, but MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred screwed it up this week. I’m not talking about the way you allowed the Marlins to play amid a coronavirus outbreak that has ultimately affected 16 players and two coaches; is leveraging the league’s COVID test statistics using samples, not people, as the denominator; or his claim that this disaster does not qualify as a “nightmare.”
No, Manfred, perhaps nostalgic for the days when people were just arguing about the worst scandal in sports history, revived the dying embers of the baseball world’s fury at the Astros, who cheated in their 2017 championship season. .
On Tuesday, for the first time since Houston’s misdeeds came to light, the Astros faced the Dodgers, the team they beat in that World Series. Los Angeles players spent the winter boiling hot, but the game remained remarkably civil for the first five and a half innings. Then Dodgers right-hander Joe Kelly entered the game.
Kelly mis shot a ball through a window at her home this spring, so she insisted after the game that the 3-0 fastball she threw against Alex Bregman’s head was an accident.
“My accuracy is not the best,” said Kelly, who yawned after pitching the field.
The next hitter, Michael Brantley, bounced a ball to first. Kelly, covering the base, collided with Brantley, who was declared safe. Then Kelly lingered beside the bag. “Just go up to the mound, m —– f —–!” shouted a voice from the Houston shelter.
Two hitters later, Kelly sniffed Carlos Correa in a knuckle curve on the ground. “Good swing, b —-!” Kelly screamed as she exited the mound, sticking out her tongue and twisting her face in a kind of grimace.
The banks were cleared. Players and coaches roamed the field, some masked, others not. Few of them observed social distancing regulations. Finally, without launching a blow, they returned to their shelters.
On Wednesday, the league announced that Kelly would be suspended for eight games, which, in a 162-game season, would total 22. Kelly appealed the ruling. (LA manager Dave Roberts was suspended for one game; Astros manager Dusty Baker was fined.)
Within minutes, other players began to weigh it up. No one noticed that the Astros players had not been punished at all for their cheating; Manfred granted them immunity in exchange for honesty.
“And what do Astros players deserve?” Indians tweeted, Mike Clevinger. “He just blew and walked free and still seems confused as to why everyone is angry?”
“MLB joined / protected a team that openly and knowingly cheated on a World Series,” Marcus Stroman of the Mets tweeted. “He doesn’t deserve to be suspended at all. Hoping it will win its appeal. Hope to see you out there again, JK!
“I FREE JOE KELLY,” Angels tweeted to the right Keynan Middleton.
Players speak from a place of emotion. You can argue about the length of the suspension, but adults should not throw 96-mph bullets with impunity. The real problem with league punishment is that it doesn’t address the biggest problem: You can’t confront another person during a pandemic.
MLB followed this idea in its 113-page operations manual. “Fighting and instigating fights are strictly prohibited,” says the text. “Players must not make physical contact with others for any reason unless it occurs in a normal and permissible action of the game. Violations of these rules will result in severe discipline consistent with the preceding precedent, which will not be reduced or prorated based on the length of the season. “
If Manfred wanted to send that message on Wednesday, he would have fined every person who left his bank for $ 50,000. That would end this nonsense, and would remind players of the real dangers they pose to each other. Instead, we come back to the Astros.
Jays loses at home opener away from home
The Toronto Blue Jays, now from Buffalo, New York, played their first game Wednesday in Washington, DC. The Canadian government expelled the team from the Rogers Center, citing a reasonable desire not to have Americans carrying the coronavirus along with its bat. across the border, and Triple-A Sahlen Field isn’t ready to accommodate them yet, so the Jays will play their first two series at home on the road. Righty Nate Pearson, the 2017 Toronto first-round draft pick and Baseball America’s No. 7 prospect, made his debut, allowing two hits and two walks in five goalless frames. The Nationals won 4-0 in 10 innings.
AL East plays in …
The Yankees were already in Philadelphia on Monday when that night’s game against the Phillies, who had just played against the Marlins, was postponed. Tuesday’s game at Citizens Bank Park was also postponed, as were games scheduled between the Yankees and the Phillies at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday and Thursday. The Orioles were also sitting idle, because they had to face Miami, so the enemies of AL East decided to play each other.
“We feel like we don’t want to take three or four days off,” said Yankees reliever Zack Britton.
And no one complained about the prospect facing Baltimore, which has a chance to produce baseball’s worst record this year. New York won the first game, 9-3.
… with some crucial tips in mind
This is a good tweet.
.
