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I'm having a hard time getting my mind around the fact that Josh Beckett was suspended for six games following the near-beaning thing on Sunday. Yes, Beckett acted immaturely in barking at Abreu after the fact, but it's not like anyone was actually plunked. No punches were thrown and given how awkward it likely is to halt a pitch after winding up, it's questionable as to whether the location of the pitch was even intentional. Moreover, given that Beckett wasn't even ejected following the incident, the imposition of the suspension seems somewhat extreme.
But not extreme enough for some. In a column headlined "Boston's Beckett deserves more than a suspension," OC Register writer Mark Saxson says:
Context is everything. Beckett couldn't have picked a worse time to puff up his chest and spew that kind of macho nonsense . . . Two days before that pitch "slipped," Beckett had joined his Boston Red Sox teammates lining up along the first-base line in a show of fundamental human decency as the Angels marked the shocking death of 22-year-old pitcher Nick Adenhart. Across the field from Beckett, tears were rolling down Mike Scioscia's face.
Saxson spends most of the rest of the column lamenting the fact that, due to the DH, the Angels can't exact any revenge directly at Beckett the next time they face one another. That's always an interesting conversation, but I'm more taken with the idea that Saxson -- or at least his editors at the Register -- believes that the death of Nick Adenhart has a legitimate place to play in disciplinary decisions.
If the situation was reversed, would Saxson be arguing that, say, Jered Weaver should not be disciplined at all due to his heavy heart? Maybe such a thing would actually be true, but it isn't any basis on which to premise disciplinary decisions. I don't intend to diminish the loss of Adenhart, but at any given time there are players and teams experiencing any amount of off-the-field distractions, and if we truly want to allow that sort of thing become a part of discipline czar Bob Watson's analysis, the system of imposing suspensions and fines would become cumbersome indeed.
More generally, the Angels cannot allow this season to be about Nick Adenhart to the exclusion of all other things. Grief can be an all-consuming thing, but it can also quickly become a crutch and then a handicap. Again, with all due respect to the memory of Nick Adenhart and the emotions of his teammates, the Angels have a job to do, and that's to figure out who among them can help out their beleaguered rotation, right the ship, and figure out how to catch up to the Mariners.
You may think such a sentiment is insensitive. I tend to think it's the sort of thing Nick Adenhart would want his teammates to do.
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Mr Sexson's take on this is ridiculous! The umpires gave the Angels hitters late time out calls repeatedly and they were obviously doing it to mess with Beckett's timing. IF he threw at Abreu intentionally it was a tactical move meant to put an end to a bush-league move that the umpires seemed to be endorsing. The whole thing could have been avoided if the umpire did not allow Abreu the timeouts so late in the pitcher's delievery- which they shouldn't have done. A Time-out is not the batter's right and it should not be granted if the pitcher is close to throwing. It will proabaly take a pticher injuring themselves seriously before this kind of crap ends.
Mr. Sexson also seems to think it is appropriate to throw at a pitcher in retalitation but not for a pitcher to throw at someone to protect their interests which is just wildly hypocritical.
Get a clue. Beckett is and always has been a punk. He threw at Abreau because Bobby took him deep often as a Yankee. Beckett is the second coming of Schilling - talented but a big mouhth and ego will get in the way. Hall of fame talent, but will never make it as he thinks he is bigger than the game, and he thinks people want to hear from him - we don't - Punk.
I think the fact that Josh chose to (during a time that an Angels team is obviously mourning ) teach a chin music lesson was just plain stupid and no one should be surprised at the anger that this would cause from fans, and Angel players. You stand up there and feel the wind from a 85 mile fast ball coming at your head and tell me your thoughts then. And that comment about what Nick would want? He'd want to not be dead you idiot.
Umpires need to keep the game moving and the granting of time-outs to batters once a pitcher has come to the set should be disallowed. Having watched the game in question it is my opinion that the umpire made the wrong decision to grant the time-out, and Beckett should have saved his words for the umpire. All in all it was much to do about nothing.
Hitters generally only call timeouts because pitchers spend extrordinary lengths of time in the set position. Beckett spent something like 20 seconds staring down the runner on second before Abreu called time. Standing with your knees bent while lofting a heavy piece of lumber is not a terribly comfortable position and if hitters were not allowed to call time pitchers would just stay set for 29 second before each pitch and wear the batters down.
Beckett is nothing more than a punk who has thrown at batters' heads since his days with the Marlins and thinks it's OK. He deserves the suspension.
Beckett's suspension is a joke, they should have arrested Roger Clemens when he threw a bat a Mike Piazza for assault. Baseball might as well go back to the "FAN-tastic" marketing they did right before the strike. The whole industry has become a joke. I am looking forward to seeing the house that "Roids" built tonight though.
Beckett's suspension is a joke, they should have arrested Roger Clemens when he threw a bat a Mike Piazza for assault. Baseball might as well go back to the "FAN-tastic" marketing they did right before the strike. The whole industry has become a joke. I am looking forward to seeing the house that "Roids" built tonight though.
I agree with the overall sentiment that Adenhart's death should not be factored into the decision to suspend Josh Beckett. Unlike Craig, however, I don't think it was. The fact that the suspension is for 6 games makes the suspension seem worse than it is. Beckett will miss only one start, which in essence makes up for the umpire's mistake in not thorwing him out of the game. What Beckett did was dangerous and he deserves to miss a start for (at least what seemed to me) an intentional toss at Abreu's head.
Klbader -- I don't think it entered into Watson's decision. I disagree with the author of the column that (a) it should; and (b) that if it does, the suspension should be longer.
Netbob: are you seriously telling me that you've never heard the phrase "it's what he would have wanted?" applied to a dead person? Or are you just trying to pick a fight?
Beckett's suspension is a joke, they should have arrested Roger Clemens when he threw a bat a Mike Piazza for assault. Baseball might as well go back to the "FAN-tastic" marketing they did right before the strike. The whole industry has become a joke. I am looking forward to seeing the house that "Roids" built tonight though.
The only people arguing that the location of the pitch was intentional, have probably never been mid-motion on the mound when time was called. The distraction caused by the umpire stepping out and up, waving his arms and yelling "Time! No pitch!" while you are straining your body at full strength in a most unnatural way can cause serious psychological damage as well as a self destructive and uncontrollable physical reaction. It's BASEBALL for cryin' out loud! The risk in the batter's box is part of the game, just as the risk of the lightning come backer is the risk to the pitcher. Reggie once said that he wasn't afraid of being struck out by Nolan, but he WAS afraid of being KILLED by him! Unless a pattern of assault on batters is seen, an ejection from that game is the worst punishment a pitcher should ever receive, and that is TOTALLY at the dicretion of the plate umpire or crew chief.
Actually, this is Bob Watson trying to puff out HIS chest more than Beckett or Abreu. BTW, since when does the batter NOT step out of the box after a time out?
Craig, it was Beckett who brought Adenhart into discussion of the events, by saying to reporters after the game, "Obviously, there's a lot of emotion in this series," Beckett said. "Not only facing us, but the tragedy." Under the circumstances of such a comment, he invites scrutiny for his actions by the press. I don't know that anybody else would have brought it up if he hadn't.
David Brown said on Big League Stew (I'm sure you read that blog): "He's right about Adenhart being on the Angels' collective mind, but he's also using it to explain away his potentially dangerous pitch and big mouth."
Actually, baseball's suspension policy concerning pitchers is a joke. If a pitcher receives a suspension it's only for the number of games his team plays and not for that number of starts, so a pitcher is more than likely only going to miss one start. A position player, on the other hand, will miss multiple games. Another issue is that if a player appeals his suspension, he is allowed to play until his suspension is heard. Usually that happens when his team plays in New York where MLB offices are located. Whe benefits if the suspension is upheld? The New York teams.
I'm still at a loss to figure out how that pitch could have been intentional. Abreau called time as JB was in mid-windup. Maybe, what, one second passed between time being called and the pitch leaving JB's hand? And in that 1 sec, JB thought, "Hey, that jerk is calling time. I was going to try and paint the outside corner, but now I think I'll throw at his head." Craziness.
If crazy Joe West didn't toss Beckett, that should be the end of it,