Basebrawl

[Prosidius]

CHICAGO -- An ugly fight broke out during Saturday's crosstown battle between the White Sox and Cubs at U.S. Cellular Field. But it was the South Siders who had all the punch in the game played between the lines. Actually, it was second baseman Tadahito Iguchi and starting pitcher Freddy Garcia who provided the knockout blows in the White Sox 7-0 beating of the Cubs before 39,387 at U.S. Cellular Field. The White Sox have a 13-1 edge during their dominant effort in the first two games of this series.

Iguchi came through with both the first grand slam and the first multi-homer effort of his short Major League career, driving in a career-high six runs. Garcia won for the seventh straight time, equaling Detroit's Kenny Rogers for the Major League victory lead.

But even these two dominant performances took a back seat to the second-inning brawl, marking the first time in this Interleague rivalry that the benches have even come close to emptying. With the bases loaded and one out in the second, Brian Anderson lofted a fly ball to Matt Murton in left off of Cubs starter Rich Hill (0-4).

A.J. Pierzynski tagged up at third and raced home with the White Sox first run, as Murton's weak throw bounced two or three times before getting near catcher Michael Barrett. With Barrett blocking the plate, though, Pierzynski plowed him over and then slapped home plate with his hand.

Barrett apparently took umbrage at Pierzynski's actions, grabbing him in a bear hug and then slugging him in the face. Scott Podsednik quickly came to Pierzynski's defense, with a second fight taking place between Anderson and John Mabry. The on-field brawl caused a 13-minute delay.

Pierzynski, Anderson, Barrett and Mabry were all ejected. The inning continued with Podsednik drawing a walk, one of five walks Hill threw in four-plus innings. Iguchi followed with a blast to left on a 2-2 pitch, clearing the bases with his fifth home run.

That grand slam was all the support needed by Garcia (7-1), who lowered his earned run average below 4.00 with eight solid innings of work. Garcia yielded eight hits but didn't walk a hitter, striking out three.

[Steffan]

As many times that catchers get run over, I can't believe it hasn't happen more often.

[L3thal Veteran]

The brawl was quite hilarious. They caught Anderson on camera swinging at a Cub like he was Ron Artest.

[crimsonhead]

This should up the rivalry a little...

[j.nudd]

The best part was the Sox announcer who said Barret punched Pierzynski "right in the grill." Needless to say, that announcer was worried about his street cred.

[firebud]

I love it.

Made me want to go out and buy a Barrett jersey.

[....]

What's funny, is Barrett went all ape**** for nothing. AJ didn't do a thing to him, and Barrett got all crybabyish. It'll be nice to see barrett get handed a multi-game suspension, and AJ will get off just fine.

[BroChaos Veteran]

aj did nothing? he thew a forearem to the head and the ball hadn't even gotten to the catcher yet. i've never seen a guy railroad the catcher when the catcher didn't even have the ball yet. and a shot to the head was completely uncalled for.

[L3thal Veteran]

aj did nothing? he thew a forearem to the head and the ball hadn't even gotten to the catcher yet. i've never seen a guy railroad the catcher when the catcher didn't even have the ball yet. and a shot to the head was completely uncalled for.

Though I understand what you are trying to say, he has no idea whether the ball is almost there or 100 yards away. The ball was hit to shallow left field so AJ did what anyone else would do to a catcher that's sitting in front of home plate and will not let him get there.

[j.nudd]

AJ won't get off clean in this whole situation, but Barrett will get the brunt of the suspension. Pierzynski has always had the reputation of being a a**. I'm sure if you ask anyone around the league, Pierzynski is one of the more disliked players. He always just gets under the skin of the opponents, and he always makes them mad. I guess I don't condone what Barret did, but I'm glad he did.

[bangbang023 Veteran]

Though I understand what you are trying to say, he has no idea whether the ball is almost there or 100 yards away. The ball was hit to shallow left field so AJ did what anyone else would do to a catcher that's sitting in front of home plate and will not let him get there.

However, AJ still forearmed Barrett in the head and, after that, proceeded to get up and slap the plate like a jerkoff. He got what he deserved and should be suspended as well. He's lucky Zambrano didn't take his head off the next day.

[L3thal Veteran]

I agree that the slap should have been avoided, though all he was doing was making sure he was safe, in a more aggressive manner.

[BroChaos Veteran]

in a prick manner. and then mocking zambrano the next day? this guy has no class, and is a complete jackass.

[L3thal Veteran]

Well, if you didn't know, he is one of the most hated players in baseball because of the way he is; he even admits it.

[Kurt]

Where can I see replay video? :D

[Stunod7]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l_1jv3D9cg

I was so glad to see them come back the next day and at least take 1 from them.

[....]

aj did nothing? he thew a forearem to the head and the ball hadn't even gotten to the catcher yet. i've never seen a guy railroad the catcher when the catcher didn't even have the ball yet. and a shot to the head was completely uncalled for.

Exactly....the catcher cannot block the plate until he has the ball....if he does, the runner has the right-of-way...it's clear in the rulebook. :) AJ didn't do anything against the rules...which is precisely why he's not being played as the bad guy here.

[vincent]

Exactly....the catcher cannot block the plate until he has the ball....if he does, the runner has the right-of-way...it's clear in the rulebook. :) AJ didn't do anything against the rules...which is precisely why he's not being played as the bad guy here.

Quite correct, not only that but the catcher should know this already and expect it to happen as part of the game, i'm sure this isn't the first time hes had a runner from 3rd rail into him. I've seen hits on the NBA far worse than this, completely immature and he should be fined accordingly.

[AppleDave Veteran]

GO CUBS BABY!!

[dotmike]

Wow, Barrett is a moron, but I can't get enough of that clip. :p

[crimsonhead]

GO CUBS BABY!!

Reminds me of this :p

Frank Catalanotto own3d!

[Coolme]

wow...

[BroChaos Veteran]

Exactly....the catcher cannot block the plate until he has the ball....if he does, the runner has the right-of-way...it's clear in the rulebook. :) AJ didn't do anything against the rules...which is precisely why he's not being played as the bad guy here.

and where in the rules does it say leading with a forearm is allowed, and to slap the plate like a prick? either way, aj's actions were uncalled for. if barrett was in the wrong, then aj could've taken the mature route, take him out shoulder to shoulder and then touch the plate.

and your interpretation of the rule is not completely correct. here is the rule, directly from mlb.com:

The catcher, without the ball in his possession, has no right to block the pathway of the runner attempting to score. The base line belongs to the runner and the catcher should be there only when he is fielding a ball or when he already has the ball in his hand.

note the "FIELDING THE BALL" part. barrett IS allowed to be there, figuring that the ball was less than 5 feet away at the time of the collision.

so yeah, AJ is a jackass.

Edited May 25, 2006 by BroChaos

[....]

and where in the rules does it say leading with a forearm is allowed, and to slap the plate like a prick? either way, aj's actions were uncalled for. if barrett was in the wrong, then aj could've taken the mature route, take him out shoulder to shoulder and then touch the plate.

and your interpretation of the rule is not completely correct. here is the rule, directly from mlb.com:

The catcher, without the ball in his possession, has no right to block the pathway of the runner attempting to score. The base line belongs to the runner and the catcher should be there only when he is fielding a ball or when he already has the ball in his hand.

note the "FIELDING THE BALL" part. barrett IS allowed to be there, figuring that the ball was less than 5 feet away at the time of the collision.

so yeah, AJ is a jackass.

Fielding the ball, to me, is running to grab the ball, so he may cross the baserunner's path...but to be standing waiting for the ball, IMO is outside that rule...we'll have to get Joel in here....he knows baseball rules. :)

[j.nudd]

Fielding the ball, to me, is running to grab the ball, so he may cross the baserunner's path...but to be standing waiting for the ball, IMO is outside that rule...we'll have to get Joel in here....he knows baseball rules. :)

The defender has the right of way when fielding the ball. The runner is out if he impedes a fielder's progress while fielding a ball. The defender doesn't have to move out of the runner's way while receiving the ball.