Originally Posted by Brian Jones
Yeah he "nailed it" because what that spiteful little shit has to say is the gospel. Do your own thinking...or is that too complex?
Carlos Quentin and Zack Greinke have a history.
To fully understand what happened Thursday night at Petco Park, you have to know the history.
“This was more about a personal relationship,” Padres manager Bud Black said Friday as he reflected on the two brawls that erupted in the bottom of the sixth Thursday night after the Dodgers’ Greinke hit Quentin with a pitch.
Quentin rushed the pitcher. In the ensuing melee, Greinke, who lowered his shoulder to block the charging Quentin, suffered a fracture to his left collarbone and is out for an estimated eight weeks.
Quentin was hit with an eight-game suspension Friday night from Major League Baseball. He and Dodgers infielder Jerry Hairston Jr., who got a one-game suspension, will both appeal their suspensions and won’t start serving the suspension until after MLB hears his appeal. Greinke was not suspended and MLB is still reviewing the case of Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp, who also confronted Quentin as the two were leaving the ballpark through the same exit.
Quentin critics, and they were voicing their opinions from every corner of the nation Friday, say the Padres left fielder overreacted. Why would Greinke hit the lead-off hitter with a full-count pitch while protecting a one-run lead in the sixth?
Good point.
But one of the things that earned Greinke a six-year, $147 million contract with the Dodgers last winter is his pinpoint control. When he hit Quentin high on his shoulder, Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis was set up for a pitch low-and-away. Could Greinke possibly have missed by that much?
Since 2008, Greinke has hit 17 hitters. Three of those were Quentin, who also has three homers in 26 at-bats against Greinke. Coincidence? Greinke has hit Quentin once every 10 plate appearances. His average against everyone else – once every 235 plate appearances.
Quentin does crowd the plate. He waits to the last possible micro-second to give up on a pitch, then he turns his body rather than jumping out of the way. He has been hit 116 times in his major league career. But Thursday was the first time he rushed the mound.
“I understand why I get hit,” Quentin said Friday afternoon in the Padres clubhouse. I understand my approach. I never felt someone was intentionally throwing at me before 2009.”
And that someone happened to be Greinke in a game between the pitcher’s Kansas City Royals and Quentin’s White Sox. Quentin Friday asked everyone to review the tape of that at-bat before passing judgment.
“The first pitch was over my head,” said Quentin of the 2009 incident. “The next pitch was at my face and caught my shoulder when I turned.”
Fast forward to Thursday night. Quentin did step to the front of the plate and stared down Greinke. He said his charge started after Greinke said something “that started with an expletive.”
“I felt I had to protect myself,” said Quentin. “It was an unfortunate situation. I understand someone got hurt. I didn’t go out there until I was provoked.”
Black admitted he was surprised the incident happened. He wasn’t alone.
During the first melee, rival catchers Nick Hundley and A.J. Ellis wound up standing next to each other. “I asked A.J. if he knew what happened,” said Hundley. “He had no idea. I had no idea of the history.”
Mark Kotsay did. He was Quentin’s teammate with the White Sox in 2009. “I knew there was tension,” said Kotsay. “It boiled over. As a hitter, there’s no defense to a ball coming at you at 90 mph.”
This is not the first time something like this happened. Eleven years ago, a major spring training brawl erupted between the Angels and Padres in spring training when Angels pitcher Aaron Sele hit Ryan Klesko in retaliation for a five-year-old home run trot. Andre Dawson once charged Eric Show.
And then there was the spring training brawl between the Padres and Rockies in Tucson in 1998. The benches cleared after Sterling Hitchcock hit two Rockies, including Larry Walker, who had a feud with a former teammate of then Padres pitching coach Dave Stewart.
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