If you did not click on the link to the story about the brawl in West Michigan last night in the post below, here is the 'more later':
An hour after the West Michigan Whitecaps completed a 4-2 victory over the Lansing Lugnuts on Thursday night at Fifth Third Ballpark, first-base coach and hitting instructor Benny Distefano finally got to see a blow-by-blow replay of the sixth-inning brawl between the teams.
One image shocked him.
It showed Lugnuts designated hitter Matt Lane rushing out to the middle of the field and using his forearm to deliver a crushing blind-side impact to the right side of his head while he tried to be a peacemaker in the melee.
Then, there's this:
The fisticuffs, sparked by an exchange of beanballs, involved numerous players trading punches, including Lugnuts right fielder Travis Snider smacking Whitecaps relief pitcher Dan Fyvie in the lower lip and Fyvie responding with several haymakers before being pulled from the pile.
But, what led to this
It began when Whitecaps catcher Louis Ott charged the mound following what he felt was an intentional beanball from Lugnuts relief pitcher Edward Rodriguez.
It appeared to be retaliation from a prior incident.
Lane, who had homered off Whitecaps reliever Casey Fien in his previous at-bat in the fourth inning, stepped up to the plate with two outs and the bases empty in the top of the sixth. Fien promptly hit him in the back with the first pitch.
"It's an acceptable part of baseball," Whitecaps manager Tom Brookens said of the exchange. "In my mind, (the Lugnuts) did what was acceptable. Then Louis charged the mound. I never have a problem with a player going to the mound if he feels he's been intentionally hit, but that's the way I played the game.
"It's the way the game has always been played."
Ott, who whipped his batting helmet at Rodriguez and missed, and Rodriguez, who hit Ott flush in the face with his glove, both got ejected from the contest. The two-man umpiring crew, however, failed to catch Lane in the act.
The helmet throwing on the way to the mound is part of the game? Really? I hope that I'm misinterpreting that.
Brian VanOchten's blog has an extended post about the incident and goes into a bit more detail:
A little background: Lugnuts designated hitter Matt Lane, who tore up Whitecaps pitching in the four-game series between the Midwest League Eastern Division rivals Monday through Thursday, slugged a two-run homer in the fourth inning off West Michigan relief pitcher Casey Fien. He didn't do anything to show up Fien, so far as I could tell, but the pitcher definitely took offense.
In Lane's next at-bat, in the top of the sixth, Fien planted a fastball in the middle of his back on the first pitch. Two outs. No one on base. First pitch. Yep. It was intentional. Yet, it's not like Fien went head-hunting or anything ridiculous like that. In fact, no one but the two teams in the dugouts seemed to notice. There was no buzz in the crowd that usually precipitates a retaliation.
In the bottom of the sixth, Lugnuts reliever Edward Rodriguez decided to even the score. He reared back and fired a 1-1 pitch at Whitecaps catcher Louis Ott. It was thrown at Ott with malice, striking him in the butt, which was the proper way to police things on the field.
The problem is Ott lost his cool and charged the mound. He took the brunt of the confrontation, though, getting drilled in the face by Edwards' glove after he'd first whipped his helmet at the pitcher and missed. And then Ott suffered a sprained ankle -- and perhaps worse.
Here is Brian's description of the hit on Distefano
Lugnuts designated hitter Matt Lane sprinted from the visiting dugout and hit Distefano full-force with a forearm to the side of the head. Distefano never saw him coming. It snapped his head back, and he crumpled to the turf. It was an ugly, nasty, dirty hit that should be severely punished. He could've seriously hurt Distefano, who seemed all right afterward. The stunned coach finished the game.
This part of the entry still has me more dumbfounded than usual:
Lane, who swore to me afterward that he didn't recall steamrolling Distefano, should get a minimum five-game suspension. I don't doubt that in the heat of the moment, Lane might not realize precisely what he did, but he needs to be held accountable for his actions.
Can't wait to see what the MWL hands down for fines and suspensions.
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