The games got out of
the umpires' hands this past weekend in Kansas City
The Kansas City Royals and the Oakland A’s faced each other
for the first time since the squared off for the American League wild card game
in October of 2014.
The playoff atmosphere was palpable in Kauffman Stadium,
where Royals’ fans were excited to welcome who once was the only all star on
their roster, the highlight of a losing-record team, and the main reason fans
went to the stadium: designated hitter Billy Butler.
Butler came back to what was his house for more than seven
years wearing green and yellow after he signed a three-year and $30-million
contract with the A’s.
In his first at bat, Butler received a standing ovation, and
everything seemed to be flowing perfectly.
However, Butler’s emotional comeback was put aside even
before the first game of the series was over on Friday night.
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| Photo courtesy of Fox Sports |
Another newcomer for Oakland, Brett Lawrie, sled into
Alcides Escobar’s left knee in a very close play at second base to start what
ended up being a battle of hit-by-pitches and ejected people during the
weekend.
Escobar, who played all 162 games for the Royals last
season, had to sit out for the rest of the series.
If you have played baseball or if you like watching it, you
knew the Royals were not going to stay with their arms crossed.
Yordano Ventura got to start on Saturday and his upper-90’s
fastball looked like the perfect tool to let Lowrie know they had Escobar’s
back.
Before the game, Escobar said he did not receive any
apologies from Lowrie, who showed how he had texted something to what
apparently was Alcides’ phone number.
Lowrie’s first at bat came in the second inning of the game
and Ventura did not attempt to “even” things out. That was his mistake. If he
was going to do it, that looked like a good situation to do so.
The A’s bats exploded scoring five runs off Ventura,
including a three-run homerun by Josh Reddick two innings later. Two pitches
after, Ventura hit Lawrie and was ejected immediately.
That was just the beginning of this battle royale. On
Sunday, in the very first inning, Scott Kazmir hit Lorenzo Cain and both
benches were warned. Ned Yost was furious and was ejected.
Why did the umpires warn both teams after Kazmir’s hit by
pitch and did not do so after Ventura hit Lawrie during the second game of the
series? Were the teams warned before the last game? What are going to be the
punishments for those involved in these exchanges?
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| Photo courtesy of CBSSports.com |
Lawrie was hit (or almost hit) again in the top of the eight
by two 100-mph pitches by Kelvin Herrera. The first one brushed him back and
the second one sailed behind his back.
Herrera, of course, was tossed, and so were Don Wakamatsu
and Alcides Escobar, who was barking from the bench. In total, six Royals were
ejected while none of the Oakland A’s had to leave the field and or have to
face any suspensions. Is that fair? I don’t think so.
Everything started because of Lawrie’s slide on Friday
night. Lawrie got out of his path to tackle Escobar. If he had gone straight to
the base he would have been safe and none of this would have happened.
Lawrie argued he was trying to break a double play, but if
you watch the play you realize there was no chance of turning two outs in that
scenario.
On Saturday, Lawrie showed everybody how he can slide right
on the base, which demonstrates how he was lying in the first place.
I don’t think he was trying to hurt Alcides Escobar, but I
do think he did not measure how much damage he could do by sliding that way.
Lawriw, however, wasn’t the only one who didn’t act right
during the series. Ventura picked a wrong moment and Herrera did a wrong thing
by throwing behind Lawrie. A 100-mph fastball to the head or ribs could have done
serious damage and nobody wants to see that.
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| Photo by Ed Zurga / Getty Images |
Finally, the umpires could have done something else, like
issuing warnings before the second and third games of the series, knowing how
these type of things are solved in professional baseball.
At the end of the game the Royals came back and beat the A’s
4 to 2 on Sunday’s afternoon to take the series, which is what really matters.
Now we have two teams that don’t like each other on and off
the field. Last year, it was the same Oakland A’s versus the Baltimore Orioles.
This year it seems like is the Royals’ turn. We have to wait until June to see
them face each other again. We’ll see how that goes…
