Yes, the Yankees and the Blue Jays got into a bench clearing brawl on Tuesday, but, somehow, New York got the short end of the stick:
New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens has been suspended for five games and fined an undisclosed amount for intentionally throwing a pitch at Alex Rios of the Toronto Blue Jays in the bottom of the seventh inning of the game on Tuesday, August 7th at the Rogers Centre in Toronto after warnings had been issued to both Clubs earlier in the game. Bob Watson, Vice President of On-Field Operations for Major League Baseball, made the announcement.
Pending appeal, the suspension of Clemens is scheduled to begin on Friday, August 10th, when New York plays at Cleveland. If appealed, the suspension will be held in abeyance until the process is complete.
In addition, Yankees manager Joe Torre has been suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount for the intentional actions of Clemens after warnings had been issued earlier in the game. Torre is scheduled to serve his suspension on Friday night.
Also receiving undisclosed fines for their roles in the incidents during Tuesday’s game were New York’s Alex Rodriguez and coaches Larry Bowa and Tony Pena and Toronto’s Matt Stairs and Josh Towers and coach Brian Butterfield.
Considering the fact that it was Toronto that started this particular spat, and that Clemens was merely responding to what Toronto’s pitcher had started, I think that the sanction is more than a little one-sided.
Even on the short end of the stick, both Torre and Clemens will only miss one game. Because of pitching rotations, a five-game suspension never means anything more than one missed start for a pitcher. Perhaps some suspensions were deserved on Toronto’s part, but this cannot even be called a punishment; I doubt they will affect New York’s overall record.
Technically, you’re right about that.
But the fact remains that this all started because a Toronto pitcher clearly and deliberately beaned Rodriguez, and, as far as I can tell, he’s not going to answer for that.
Actually it started before that series with Rodriguez’s bush league actions yelling “mine” or “I got it” causing Toronto to lose the game. In my opinion, the Toronto pitchers had no choice but the bean Rodriguez. To bad the first one couldn’t get it done.