Bud (Is Not) Wiser
The commissioner of baseball agreed to issue a 6 game suspension to Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett after he allegedly threw at the head of Angels outfielder Bobby Abreu.Is this the same commissioner who allowed steroids to consume the sport of professional baseball producing bigger cheaters than the cast of The Perfect Score? The same commissioner who oversaw Major League Baseball go on strike on August 12, 1994 (The day before I had tickets to a Dodgers game in LA… Which I’m still pissed about)? The same commissioner who didn’t know what to do in the extra innings of the 2002 All Star Game so he ended the game in a tie? The same commissioner who just always looks like a baffled old man? (Seriously though, what is Bud Selig always confused about?)
Well great job, Bud! You have yet again found a way to rear your ugly head (and that’s an understatement) into baseball by making a decision that makes absolutely zero sense.
(And just for the record, I’m not calling you Bud because I like you. We are by no means friends. Not until 2012 when you plan to retire at the end of your contract. I’m only calling you Bud because it’s your nickname.)
Abreu was granted a timeout before Beckett’s pitch was thrown. Abreu asked for the time out after waiting in the batters box for an extended amount of time as Beckett was holding Angels third basemen Chone Figgins on second base.
The timeout was granted after Beckett had started his windup, and he finished the pitch as most pitchers are taught to do to prevent any chance of injury.
After the pitch was thrown in the vicinity of his head, Abreau threw his hands up. Beckett started walking toward home plate and both benches cleared. The Angels didn’t throw any punches. As for the Red Sox, Coco Crisp is gone after being shipped to Kansas City in the offseason so they didn’t throw any punches either.
The whole situation just consisted of a whole lot of name calling, “You’re mother’s a whore!” yells, and some angry “I’m not very fond of you” looks.
ESPN.com had this quote from Beckett:
“I don’t really feel like I’ve done anything,” Beckett said. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do. Am I supposed to give him a hug? I wasn’t really in a hugging mood right then. I really don’t know what he wanted me to do.”
I’m not taking the side of the Red Sox in this situation. If the teams were swapped positions, I would still be arguing how ridiculous this suspension is. If you watch the video, it seems highly unlikely that Beckett’s intentions were to throw at Abreu. And he doesn’t even become hostile until after Abreu starts yelling at him.
So tell me again, Mr. Selig, why you are issuing a suspension to anyone on either side of this conflict?
You know how many times this happens in baseball? And to suspend a player 6 games?! For a pitcher that could quite possibly be 2 starts!
If this is the case, then you ought to start issuing suspensions for the other things in baseball that are much worse. Such as players who leave in the middle of games to hang out in the scoreboard, players with really ugly haircuts, players who pull really mean pranks on teammates, and whoever the jerk was that shot and killed G-Baby!
Come on, Bud. If we are going to put up with ou for 3 more years, then you better only start crakin’ down on the issues that really need your attention.
First – Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
Wo Wo Wo. 6 games looks deceiving.It is actually only 1 start since Beckett is a starting pitcher. He absolutely should be suspended a game.
He had every right to finish his pitch. He did not have the right to throw a fastball at a guys head. I have watched Beckett pitch and his control is fine. He does not miss the catcher’s glove by over a yard on a regular basis.
If he is so worried about preventing injury than throw a upper 70’s pitch in that situation, like he would to warm up before the inning. Not a 94 mph fastball.
That is a potentially lethal move by Beckett. If he had landed that pitch I would have said arrest him.
Beckett was the jerk who took 12 seconds from getting set on the mound to delivering a pitch. Kudos to Bud on this one. He got it right.
You only say this because you hate Boston.
I am a huge sox fan and I am legitimately mad at bud for what he did and how the situation came down for everyone involved.
First of all six games one start yes. But do we know if it is suspended without pay or how that will work. Also it shakes up the entire sox rotation a bit because they dont have their number one pitcher.
I will admit it was a long stretch trying to keep Figgins close on base but he is a fast runner so why not do a couple of looks.
Secondly the ball was going to be high and inside from the start Jason Varitek was set up there so Beckett was maybe trying to back him off the plate, a legitimate play in baseball. But if you watch the pitch closely the path of the ball was off which means Beckett tried to make an adjustment and it happened to almost hit Abreu.
Third, did anyone else see how the umpires handled the situation? They were all facing the angels and talking to them and looked like instigating some conversation/yelling with the players that resulted in Torii Hunter being ejected. If im an angels fan im pissed! As a baseball fan I am irked. I believe hunter didnt warrant an ejection he was defending his teammate and had all rights to do so. Especially right now because the Angels have been on an emotional roller coaster and if anyone messes with them I believe they are dead meat because of the unfortunate and heart breaking situation of Nick Adenhart.
Fourth, Hunter and a pitching coach and i believe one more got suspended one game for the “fracas” if you will call it that. That is almost worse than the six games.
Final point. As things calmed down the umpires (after ejecting Hunter) rationally talked it out and decided to leave Beckett in there and im sure gave him a warning, Fair. Now what did MLB see that the umpires did not? Are they now the official rulings of the game? I thought thats what the boys in blue were supposed to do. If MLB can override situations like this are we in for more unnecessary interventions. Had punches been thrown or anything of the sort then of course officials please instill punishment. But if you are going to step in make sure its consistent with what happened because both sides got a war end from a pretty harmless situation.
I believe this was all handled wrong and Bud just gave us more reasons to chastise and criticize his old sorry butt.
As you can tell im pretty fired up about this subject, but it is not solely on the basis that Beckett is suspended six games, but for how the situation was handled and went down. Batters almost getting hit is a part of baseball you see it every day (ask Craig Biggio) and so are wild pitches. If Bud doesn’t like this then I think he should choose another sport. I think since he is so familiar with steriods weightlifting would be a good fit.
There is my rant!
I’m with Zach on this one. After watching it a couple times it’s pretty obvious that the pitch had no intention of simply finishing his wind up. Beckett doesn’t miss a catcher set up on the outside part of the plate by more than 3 feet. If Abreu doesn’t move he’s catching that pitch in the head. It’s only one start. No big deal. Good job Bud. You might not have handled steroids the best but you got this one right.
That pitch was ridiculous, if it was out of control it was only in the sense that Beckett meant to hit another part of Abreu’s body. I’ve seen a lot of close pitches but holy shit, I give props to Abreu for dodging it. As has been said, 6 games=one game for a pitcher and that, I believe is the sole reason for the long suspension. Beckett wasn’t the only one who got in trouble here either. Boston fans already think he’s Jesus Christ, no need to expand sympathy for the martyr to the rest of the nation.