Venters gets docked and Braves fans vent: Spare me, I say
Prince Fielder gets a hug from Angel Hernandez. (AP photo)
I know from my Twitter feed that Braves fans are irate over the four-game suspension dealt Jonny Venters for plunking Prince Fielder — oddly enough, nobody seems all that miffed that Bobby Cox also gets docked a game — but here’s where I play Bad Cop and say, “Come on now. What did you expect?”
We’ll never know if Venters meant to dust Fielder on Saturday — MLB has QuesTek to assess balls and strikes but cannot yet read minds — but these things aren’t about intentions as much as appearances. And you’ll have to admit it looks pretty fishy when …
A player hits a home run and, his next trip up, is greeted by a pitch over his head. (The Braves’ defense of Venters goes thusly: It was a slider, and you don’t send a message with an 84-mph breaking ball.) The plate umpire then warns both teams not to throw at anybody else. And the very next pitch …
Drills the Prince in the back.
The moral of our story: If you’re going to hit a guy, try not to do it with the first pitch after a warning. That attracts attention. It all but forces a reaction from both the other team — two Braves were hit by Brewers’ pitching Sunday, including Jason Heyward with what turned out to be starter Manny Parra’s final delivery of the day — and from MLB.
Brewers manager Ken Macha griped after Saturday’s game that his hitters were being targeted, and umpires can hear/read. Surely that’s how Milwaukee’s David Riske got away with not being ejected when he drilled Troy Glaus on Sunday two batters after both teams had again been warned. According to Cox, plate umpire Scott Barry said he didn’t think Riske meant to hit Glaus.
And that tells us this umpiring crew — which also features Angel Hernandez, who ejected Cox and Venters on Saturday, and Cowboy Joe West — believed the Brewers had a case. (Fielder had also been hit on Friday by Tommy Hanson after Ryan Braun hit a home run.) As it happened, Milwaukee pitchers hit three Braves in the series to Atlanta’s two, but Venters’ two pitches were the ones everyone remembered.
And I know Braves fans will cry conspiracy — the commissioner lives in Milwaukee, remember — and will cite this as further proof the umps have been out to get this team for the past two decades, but every team’s fans feel exactly the same way. Except maybe the Brewers. They know Bud Selig will protect them. That’s why Milwaukee has won 14 consecutive division titles. (Wait. You say it hasn’t?)
Chances are Venters will appeal his suspension, and chances are it’ll get reduced a game, maybe two. But let’s not go all Pollyanna and pretend the good-guy Braves would never ever stoop so low as to hit somebody on purpose. Because sometimes they do.
I’m not saying that’s what happened with Fielder. I’m only saying it does happen. It’s part of the game. And now we move on.
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236 comments Add your comment
bufbox
July 19th, 2010
8:20 pm
this from Wikipedia on the Marichal / Roseboro story … for those interested.
Johnny Roseboro incident
Marichal is also remembered for a notorious incident that occurred on August 22, 1965, in a game played against the Giants’ arch-rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers.[14] Twice in the first three innings, Marichal had thrown near the head of Dodger leadoff batter Maury Wills. As Marichal was batting against Sandy Koufax in the last of the third inning, Dodger catcher Johnny Roseboro’s return throws to the mound flew too close to his head and one grazed his ear. Words were exchanged, and Roseboro, throwing off his catcher’s helmet and mask, rose to continue the argument. Marichal responded by repeatedly hitting Roseboro’s unprotected head with his bat.[15] The benches cleared into a 14-minute brawl, while Giants captain Willie Mays escorted the bleeding Roseboro (who would require 14 stitches) back to the clubhouse.
Marichal was ejected, suspended for nine days and fined $1,750. He was also barred from attending the Giants’ final series with the Dodgers, in Los Angeles on September 6–7. Photos of the incident (Official Baseball Guide 1966, Sporting News, p. 19) also show Tito Fuentes (who was in the on-deck circle) wielding a bat threateningly, but Fuentes did not actually hit Roseboro and was not ejected. Roseboro sat out the next couple of games and returned to the lineup on the 25th.[16] Roseboro filed a lawsuit against Marichal, but eventually settled out of court, supposedly for $7,000. Marichal and Roseboro would eventually go on to become close friends, reconciling any personal animosity and even autographing photographs of the brawl.
Many people protested the apparently light punishment meted out, since it would cost Marichal only one or two starts. The Giants were in a tight pennant race with the Dodgers (as well as the Pirates, Reds, and Braves) and the race was decided with only two games to play. The Giants, who ended up winning the August 22 game and were down only 1/2 game afterward, eventually lost the pennant by 2 games. Ironically, the Giants went on a 14 game win streak that started during Marichal’s absence and by then it was a two-team race as the Pirates, Reds, and Braves fell further behind. But then the Dodgers won 15 of their final 16 games (after Marichal had returned) to win the pennant. Marichal won in his first game back, 2–1 vs. the Astros on September 9, (the same day Koufax pitched his perfect game vs. the Cubs,) but lost his last three decisions as the Giants slumped in the season’s final week.
fred1395
July 19th, 2010
8:25 pm
“Princess Fielder and Queen Selig” – Come on Bob! Don’t forgot about Lady Bradley!
JOD
July 19th, 2010
8:28 pm
I wish I could throw a couple w/Bradley in the box. Cant miss that head!
Mark Bradley
July 19th, 2010
8:30 pm
Actually, Glavine didn’t hit Murphy. He threw three breaking balls inside. He got warned after the second and walked off the mound after the third.
bravesfanbob
July 19th, 2010
8:34 pm
I loved it when Wagner struck out Prince Fielder in the ninth and shook his fist at him! He probably will never face him again unless Prince gets traded to another National League team this year.
Why does Angel Hernandez still wear an umpire uniform in anything other than a T-Ball game? He tried to get Hudson to get into an argument with him Saturday night while Huddy was walking off the mound by walking 20 feet up the line towards Huddy. Scott Barry is under this buffoon, and he insisted even though he had issued a warning, that Riske wasn’t throwing at Glaus. Joe West was much too fat to get involved, and Hernandez was too dumb. What an umpiring crew! I wonder if Bob Watson thinks that since Barry said Riske wasn’t intentionally throwing at Glaus, that no suspension is necessary. Bring in Steve McMichael to “have some speaks with that umpire” and watch Hernandez poop in his pants.
Tim
July 19th, 2010
8:34 pm
Go re-watch the at-bat. I am not saying that the first one wasn’t a purpose pitch or that it was or wasn’t intended to send a message. But there is NO WAY that he intended that second pitch to end up where it did, unless Venters has a screwball that I am unaware of. The pitch veers INTO Fielder about halfway to the plate. It was a poorly released splitter and he lost control of it. Plain and simple. They might have hit him intentionally the first time, and they might have hit Braun intentionally in Milwaukee, but the pitch in question was not a purpose pitch.
The thing that is frustrating to me is that they warned Riske and then when he hit Glaus after the warning, they didn’t toss him. That makes no sense. Why issue a warning and not enforce it?
Bobby's Cox
July 19th, 2010
8:34 pm
Heck with it….I quit!
bravesfanbob
July 19th, 2010
8:36 pm
Forgive me for posting twice, my post didn’t come up the first time.
Cox Ejection Magic Number: 6
July 19th, 2010
8:49 pm
I am glad MLB handed down this punishment. If the Braves are smart they will appeal the suspension so that Venters can pitch in this important series against SD then let him serve it next week against washington and florida. Cox has been relying on him, Wags, the Aussie and the Japanese feller too much anyway. I am much more distraught at the idea of Nate McSucks coming back to the team tomorrow.
JOD
July 19th, 2010
8:54 pm
OH NO! Are you serious about McSuck is on the way back? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
TM
July 19th, 2010
8:59 pm
It’s called hypocrisy!
The umpiring crew (hernandez, west) has proven over & over &over again how bad they are. Yet MLB does nothing to them or announce to the teams they continue to screw over that they will do something…
Shame on hernandez & west, but much more shame on MLB for allowing it to continue.
I bet my house that both A. Hernandez and Joe West will be umpiring in the playoffs too.
And after this past weekends bogus calls, they will most likely umpire a braves game or two. mark it down.
kenchops
July 19th, 2010
9:05 pm
that pic of Hernandez “man huggin” PF looked mighty chummy. there was no intention as it appeared to me. seems to me the Brewers are cryn’ but when they hit batters there is the old double standard!
Maurice
July 19th, 2010
9:06 pm
That ump crew is a croc. Yeah, they should have hit Fielder. You know why your team his leading the league in getting hit, Macha? You have a bunch of prima donnas who admire home runs like they were in first place when they are actually in 3rd place. Fielder being the number one culprit. And then to have the nerve to not throw out Riske after a warning is a joke. How can you judge one thing and not the other? Probably b/c it was a near rookie ump behind the plate. I saw fight it and have Bob explain why nothing happened on Sunday.
Ross
July 19th, 2010
9:07 pm
This is basically BS, but I’ll bet lefties will be off the plate next time against Jonny Thunders.
TheAntiMe
July 19th, 2010
9:11 pm
The Cardinals have just hit their 4th home run off of the Phillies in just over an inning. What do you say, Mark, is it time for Charlie Manuel to tell his pitcher to plunk a Cardinals hitter?
Personally, I hope that they don’t. I like the way things are going.
Rob
July 19th, 2010
9:13 pm
Escobar hit another homer. too funny
kerryb
July 19th, 2010
9:13 pm
Who cares, it was worth hitting him. I can’t stand that over exagerated stupid looking swing of his. Maybe he will get traded and we can hit him again.
athdog
July 19th, 2010
9:15 pm
So what if Johnny Vent threw at the fat pig? He covers the plate like he owns it, and hafl of his belly muscle hangs in the zone. What I don’t understand, objectively, is their pitcher NOT being ejected after hitting Glaus right after another warning. Angel the Awful ‘didn’t think’ Riske was trying to hit Glaus, but he thought an 80 MPH breaking ball by Johnny Vent was? Joe West is having a bad influence on this crew. As for Selig protecting the Brewers, I disagree. I think Selig is so clueless, he doesn’t realize his family still owns a team in MLB.
kerryb
July 19th, 2010
9:16 pm
I knew Bob Watson was going to suspend him. They want some kind of sissy league. I’m surprised that Bob forgets how they use to take care of those things in his day.
Worm
July 19th, 2010
9:17 pm
Man, I thought Braves fans were more knowledgeable about the game..Braves 73, Fielder tried to take out gonzales,AFTER he was hit..BTW_Fielder never touched him..I’ve played more baseball than 99% of some of you clowns..I was watching the game and Joe Simpson had everything in the proper prospective..
Mr. Melancholy
July 19th, 2010
9:18 pm
Fielder is big, fat and slow. He wears a baggy uniform. He’s practically stationary. He can’t get out of the way. All that being said, he’s a pretty good hitter. I wish he was a Brave. Free Jonny Venters Now!!!!
Dodaddy
July 19th, 2010
9:19 pm
Now everyone will want a baseball tattoo on their back.
Paul In Savannah
July 19th, 2010
9:21 pm
The Braves did what they were supposed to do. Its in your face gritty baseball. The problem is that Ken Macha is a whiner. His team leads the league in home runs and he’s surprised that his team is getting drilled in return. There’s no crying in baseball
nolarw
July 19th, 2010
9:24 pm
First time I’ve ever seen the umpire put his arm around the player hit and walk him to first base. This arouses suspicions right away to me.
kerryb
July 19th, 2010
9:27 pm
The great Phillies are getting their cans kicked again. How funny is that.
Ross
July 19th, 2010
9:33 pm
You couldn’t hurt Prince Fielder if you hit him with a bowling ball.
Wow, the spirit of Bob Gibson is back.
Erica
July 19th, 2010
9:34 pm
Mark you are a colossal idiot.
robdawg08
July 19th, 2010
9:39 pm
Venters should of got 2 games and Cox 1 game. But also, Riske should have been ejected and got 2 games as well. How do you penalize just one team ?
jimmymack
July 19th, 2010
9:40 pm
it’s just baseball
robdawg08
July 19th, 2010
9:43 pm
How can .300 hittin’ Blanco get sent to minors for .200 hittin’ Mclouth ? This kind of stuff is what makes me hate Bobby Cox managing.
Gumby
July 19th, 2010
9:47 pm
Maybe the Braves should have a special pitcher called a DH. Their job is to hit the batter as hard as they can. They get suspended and then we call up another “designated hitter”.
If we’re going to plunk someone might as well get our money’s worth with a fastball so they remember it next time.
Ross
July 19th, 2010
9:48 pm
Well I think we should appeal this. We need Thunders for this series.
robdawg08
July 19th, 2010
9:52 pm
Maybe in a 7-1 game Hernandez is 2B ump and Gonzalez could hit him in the face with a relay throw ? Okay, I’m getting a lil’ sadistic, I know…
thunderbull56
July 19th, 2010
9:54 pm
Knock ‘em down, knock ‘em down. Ask Bob Gibson, ask Nolan Ryan.Ryan knocked down Dave Winfield and Ricky Henderson in consecutive at bats,”didn’t hit ‘em, cause they dived to the dirt in time” All Star game, year ? don’t recall, but do recall coming out of my seat and screaming, “That is the way you have to pitch!” BTW,Nolan didn’t recieve a warning or ejection, and proceeded to strike both of them out. “Priceless”.
TC_Bluewater
July 19th, 2010
9:54 pm
Really? The “vegetarian” gets hit while crowding the plate, after two inside pitches?? What a knucklehead! Hey, “Commish”! Go back to selling cars, oh, that’s right, POTUS bought your dealership out and your employees are still looking back saying “WTF?”.
robdawg08
July 19th, 2010
9:54 pm
Murph the Mormon. Dude’s got like 9 kids…
scengr
July 19th, 2010
10:01 pm
The only problem I have is that the Brewer’s pitcher was not thrown out on Sunday. Sending a pitch over a guys head and following it with a plunk to the back is cause for suspiscion. So is nailing two opposing batters the next day. The thing is, all of them were probably intentional and should be judged accordingly. Next time we have a game with Angel Hernandez or Joe West we should let them see what an intentional hit looks like up close and personal. What a stupid decision by Selig, and a bunch of little kid crying by the Brewers.
JOS
July 19th, 2010
10:21 pm
I don’t have any problem with the Braves throwing at people now and again, especially to protect our hitters. My question for Bobby is why Venters? He’s too valuable. Have Kawakami or Chavez do it and let them get suspended – no one would care.
Gene
July 19th, 2010
10:25 pm
Brush backs are part of the game. Intentionally hitting a batter is not. Venters shouldn’t do it, and Cox shouldn’t condone it.
Traver
July 19th, 2010
10:26 pm
How can anyone say that was intentional? You’d have to throw it into one of the two dugouts to miss Fielder and that night gown of a uni he wears.
Rogie
July 19th, 2010
10:27 pm
It didn’t matter whether Venters meant to hit Fielder or not — that’s the whole idea of the warning. I think it would be easier to swallow if the umpires showed some consistency and tossed Riske and Macha after they had been warned. The problem is the appearance of a double standard.
I really don’t know how MLB polices or grades its umpires. But this crew seems to reading minds and picking fights with everyone. Nobody goes to games to see umpires.
rainman
July 19th, 2010
10:27 pm
I love him — but Venters is liable to hit the batter on any given pitch – with or without Bobby’s direction.
Ross
July 19th, 2010
10:29 pm
Hey Gene, a brush back is just when the guy gets out of the way!
No seriously – I think Thunders is wild – well that’s that. He’s wild to the right a lot – he’s paints by braille. Well Fielder is a barn, and can’t get out of the way, so like all fat dudes at bat, he’s a target.
TNBravesFan
July 19th, 2010
10:50 pm
It seems more like this umpiring crew was looking to get some press. I was at the game Friday and Joe West behind the plate was amusing. He made bad call after bad call behind the plate. And it just continued to get worse throughout the series. These guys need to understand that we don’t pay money to see them umpire, and they need to move on or find another career. It’s ridiculous to think the Brew Crew got favored bc of the fact that Selig owned them, c’mon people it’s not like Selig owns the umpiring crews and told them to all favor the Brewers or else. Does seem kinda fishy with Parra hitting J-Hey on his last pitch of his outing and no one bats an eye. Get it together MLB and let’s play some ball!! Go Braves!!!
Zerevan
July 19th, 2010
10:50 pm
Princess is a TARGET a big f#@!ng one…! Hard not to hit that fat a$$….!
Zerevan
July 19th, 2010
10:55 pm
Next time hit Angel please Mr. Venters…
P Rose
July 19th, 2010
10:57 pm
I was listening to a game on XM radio the other day and the analyst (I forgot who it was) told a story about being a teammate of Nolan Ryan’s back in the day. An opposing player pranced and preened past the Astros dugout after hitting a home run; Ryan drawled, “That boy needs a bowtie.” The next night that same batter came to the plate with Ryan on the mound. Ryan promptly fired a fastball right under the batter’s chin, sending him sprawling. Princess – this is the big league, son. If you want to showboat, but you can’t handle being pitched inside, maybe you need to be playing softball.
Joe
July 19th, 2010
11:11 pm
I believe Angel Hernandez has been the worst umpire all year round. Angel Hernandez blew a save opportunity earlier in the year where Kevin Gregg had 1 or 2 batters struck out and walked them both, and Kevin got really mad and Angel ejected him and Cito Gastin out of the game.
Another belief on why he’s the worst is that he is always working with Joe West as his base ump and he builds up a scene on when and where he’s going to eject somebody just by choosing sides. Angel was supposed to be “fair and impartial” and support both teams with equality. I saw was a wild pitch that missed Fielders head by 2 to 5 feet high, and a fastball that hit Prince right in the buns unintentionally. Right away Angel chose to eject Johnny Venters in that inning and Angel decides to calm prince down like he was his 5 year old son with a tantrum. Hernandez said “Just take first base Prince, don’t worry they wont (Johnny and Bobby can’t harm you) get you.” Someone must separate Angel Hernandez from Joe West, this is god awful.
yurtle_the_turtle
July 19th, 2010
11:25 pm
I heard on the pre-game show Buck, Leo, and Lemmer commenting that the Braves weren’t trying to hit anyone…whine,whine, blah, blah…that in a 162 game season, you’re going to get people hit by pitches. In the same breath, the three idiots then complained about the strike zone being narrowed in Saturday’s game. Blah Blah, whine, whine…Did anyone tell Leo the Dolt, Buck the tuna, and Lemmer that in a 162 game season, you’re not going to get every strike called your way??? Geez, talk about home-town slants….how about some objectivity here, idiots.
Jon
July 19th, 2010
11:28 pm
Eh, whatev. What is 4 games? Might as well be a decent rest for Johnny after the many great innings that he’s had for us. Let him go for a few games and we’ll be fine. Mike Dunn deserves some work that he’s up here anyway. Let him get Venters’ innings.