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The fallout from Thursday night's costly mini-skirmish in San Diego is starting to become clear. Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, the $147-million arm who is just starting his first season with the team, has to undergo surgery today to stabilize his broken left clavicle. The guesstimate on a return to the mound is eight weeks. Injury journalist Will Carroll calls that an aggressive timetable, but says the Dodgers' doctor, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, often pushes the time frame successfully. Because the injury is to the left side, and Greinke pitches with his right arm, he can begin throwing sooner and should not be hindered the rest of the season, Carroll says: "He should have no real trouble in his return." The surgery involves inserting a rod in Greinke's left collarbone to stabilize and align the fracture, and will be performed today at White Memorial Hospital, says MLB.com's Ken Gurnick. In the meantime, the Dodgers will elevate someone who they did not consider one of their five best starting pitchers to take the place of Greinke, who was their #2 starter.
As for aggressor Carlos Quentin, the Padres outfielder, he was suspended for eight games. That's about the top of the range for players who charge a pitcher on the mound. Quentin typically leads the league in being hit by pitchers, and does not have a history of going after the pitchers who hit him, but there's some kind of history with Greinke. He apparently took a couple of steps toward the mound one previous time that Greinke hit him, but did not charge. In this case, Quentin stepped toward the pitcher, Greinke said something, and Quentin rushed to the mound and tackled Greinke to the ground. The pitcher was apparently hurt on the fall, before the players from both teams converged.
As is routine, Quentin's suspension and the one-game suspension of the Dodgers' Jerry Hairston for being overly aggressive won't take effect until after an appeal. That means Quentin could be around when the Padres open a series at Dodger Stadium on Monday. The ex-baseball players who offer commentary in the media said some kind of retaliation is almost certain from the Dodgers, though not necessarily that night. (Monday's game is also when the Dodgers will celebrate Jackie Robinson.) But if Quentin is in the lineup, the fans will be on him and some kind of recurrence of hard feelings between the teams would not be surprising. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, for his part, said that the Dodgers don't intend to retaliate Monday for Greinke's injury. "We're going to play baseball," said Mattingly. "We're trying to win. We're not MMA fighters or anything like that." So stay tuned.
By the way, Quentin's charge and the bench-clearing that followed was a ridiculous spectacle, like they almost always are — and the Dodgers certainly are the losers. But as baseball skirmishes go, it was not especially egregious or violent. There's nothing very special about it — happens several times every season, sometimes with injuries, sometimes not. If a no-name relief pitcher had been hurt, it might not have made the news. So the calls to junk 200 years of American values, and 100 years of baseball precedent, and invent a new standard of justice by suspending Quentin for as long as Greinke is out are pretty over the top. Same with the suggestions that this one incident, dumb as it was, is the one that should prompt a new era of criminal investigation and prosecution of on-field violence in sports. If you really feel it's a good idea to have politicians involved in policing pro sports, at least wait for a test case that's actually outrageous.
Ex-pitcher C. J. Nitkowski, commenting for ESPN, says fans often misunderstand what goes into why these kinds of brawls happen.
Quentin never charged the mound for any of the first 115 times he was hit in his career. There was something very different for him about No. 116.
Getting hit by a pitch is not a pleasant experience. It hurts. It makes you mad, and you want to react. Most guys take a deep breath, quickly get over it and move on to first base. Sometimes they'll yell, motion toward the pitcher, but more often than not, they don't charge the mound. Other times, though, players will anticipate when a HBP is coming based on previous circumstances -- either involving themselves or their teammates -- and predetermine that if it does happen they are going to the mound without hesitation.Neither of those were the case in San Diego. I do not believe that Greinke hit Quentin on purpose -- the circumstances of the game make that clear. However, Greinke did hit Quentin -- for a third time in his career -- and it hurt. Quentin was angry, understandably so. He gave Greinke a chance to show some remorse and make him think it was an accident. Greinke refused and reportedly said something that antagonized Quentin, who took exception, charged the mound like a bull and bowled over Greinke, breaking his left collarbone.
There is another component to this that most, if not all, nonplaying members of the media and fans miss. There is something pitching coaches along my career have taught me and others: "Whether you hit a batter or throw that fastball under his chin that knocks him down on purpose or not, act like you meant to do it." Whether it is right or wrong is debatable, but this is how pitchers are taught.
Why would anyone teach that? Despite what some might want you to believe, there is a huge mental component to playing this game professionally. Showing any sign of weakness could give an opponent an edge. And so some coaches will teach you things like, "Act like it was on purpose; show no fear."
Frankly, I do not mind the strategy. It makes perfect sense. The result might be an unhappy hitter who wants to talk about it with you on the mound, and you live with the consequences.
Do not misunderstand what I am saying. If a pitcher hits a batter, he should not immediately act like it was on purpose. However, if he is challenged by the hitter, then he has a decision to make: be remorseful or don't. This is when high testosterone levels and poorly wired brain synapses collide. The results are usually never very good.
