No suspension coming for Fielder
Posted by Anthony Stalter (08/06/2009 @ 1:38 pm)
Major League Baseball has decided not to suspend Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder after he attempted to barge into the Dodgers’ clubhouse following a game Tuesday night in L.A. Fielder was upset after being on the receiving end of a retaliation pitch by Dodgers reliever Guillermo Mota and had to be stopped by teammates and security guards outside of L.A.’s clubhouse when he attempted to confront Mota following the game.
From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
More surprisingly, MLB isn’t suspending Dodgers reliever Guillermo Mota or manager Joe Torre, either. The penalties are undisclosed fines for Fielder and Mota and no suspensions.
Mota obviously intentionally hit Fielder with a pitch in the ninth inning of a 17-4 loss in retaliation for Manny Ramirez being hit earlier in the game. And Torre obviously ordered it, which catcher Russell Martin admitted to after the game.
As several of our readers pointed out yesterday, if Fielder was that angry about Mota’s retaliation pitch, then he should have confronted the reliever on the field during the game. Why he wanted until after the game is beyond me, unless he knew that his teammates would eventually stop him and thus, he wouldn’t have had to throw any punches in front of a stadium full of people. (Hey, maybe he was thinking about the children and their innocent, fragile minds.)
Either way, it is surprising that neither Mota nor Torre will face any punishment. Usually MLB hands out one or two game suspensions for incidents like this one, although maybe the league thought that if they weren’t going to suspend Fielder, they couldn’t touch Mota or Torre either.
Fielder goes after Mota in clubhouse following Brewers-Dodgers game
Posted by Anthony Stalter (08/05/2009 @ 9:17 am)
ESPN.com is reporting that Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder tried attacking Dodgers pitcher Guillermo Mota in L.A.’s clubhouse before being stopped by security guards and teammates.
Mota drilled Fielder with two outs, apparently in retaliation for a pitch that hit Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez in the seventh inning of Los Angeles’ highest-scoring home performance in 30 years. Home plate umpire Marvin Hudson immediately ejected Mota, who slowly left the field while Fielder voiced his anger.
When the game ended, Fielder charged through the underground tunnels at Dodger Stadium to the door of the home clubhouse, shouting obscenities with many fellow Brewers trailing behind. Several security guards and teammates Bill Hall and Casey McGehee prevented Fielder from entering the locker room in search of Mota.
Could you imagine Mota sitting at his locker in the Dodgers clubhouse and turning to a teammate saying, “Do you hear something?”
All of a sudden Prince Fielder busts through the doors screaming “Where the f**k is he? Where the f**k is he?!”
I’d be telling one of the members of the clubhouse staff to wear my jersey so I could sneak out the back door.
The rest of this series should be interesting. Milwaukee has played flat since the All-Star break and maybe this incident will fire them up. They’re still only five games back of the Cubs and Cardinals in the NL Central, so it’s not like they still can’t make a run. They certainly have enough hitting, but the pitching has been brutal.