Minor Game Major Brawl

A pitcher is in a Dayton, Ohio jail this morning, charged with felony assault after a huge brawl broke out in yesterday's Peoria Chiefs-Dayton Dragons Single-A baseball game. What started out as a heated argument between the team's managers, escalated when Peoria pitcher Julio Castillo fired a baseball at the Dayton dugout. To make matters worse, Castillo missed, and instead hit a fan sitting behind the dugout. It also emptied the Dayton bench and the melee was on.

It all started in the 2nd inning when Castillo beaned Dragons batter Zach Kozart, who had to leave the game. As an aside, the next batter hit a grounder that caused Castillo and 2nd baseman Gian Guzman to collide. Guzman broke his leg and was taken off on a stretcher. Castillo's night was only going to get worse.

After giving up a pair of 2-run hits, Castillo hit Angel Cabrera, who had hit a walk off home run the night before. The next play was a grounder and Cabrera took out his frustrations on Chiefs shortstop Nate Samson. That brought acting manager Carmelo Martinez (Ryne Sandberg was away from the team) out to argue with home plate ump. Dragons manager Donnie Scott joined the argument and was shoved by Martinez. That set off Castillo and it "game on".

10 minutes later, 17 players were ejected, leaving the umpires in a quandary. They no longer had enough players to finish the game. Midwest League President George Spelius made the odd decision of telling the umpires to reinstate enough players to finish the game. Why not just suspend the game until Spelius could review the video of the incident, which he was going to have to do any way.

Meanwhile, Castillo was to be arraigned this morning. It could mean deportation and a loss of a work visa for the 20-yr old native of the Dominican Republic.

Minor Game Major Brawl

A pitcher is in a Dayton, Ohio jail this morning, charged with felony assault after a huge brawl broke out in yesterday's Peoria Chiefs-Dayton Dragons Single-A baseball game. What started out as a heated argument between the team's managers, escalated when Peoria pitcher Julio Castillo fired a baseball at the Dayton dugout. To make matters worse, Castillo missed, and instead hit a fan sitting behind the dugout. It also emptied the Dayton bench and the melee was on.

It all started in the 2nd inning when Castillo beaned Dragons batter Zach Kozart, who had to leave the game. As an aside, the next batter hit a grounder that caused Castillo and 2nd baseman Gian Guzman to collide. Guzman broke his leg and was taken off on a stretcher. Castillo's night was only going to get worse.

After giving up a pair of 2-run hits, Castillo hit Angel Cabrera, who had hit a walk off home run the night before. The next play was a grounder and Cabrera took out his frustrations on Chiefs shortstop Nate Samson. That brought acting manager Carmelo Martinez (Ryne Sandberg was away from the team) out to argue with home plate ump. Dragons manager Donnie Scott joined the argument and was shoved by Martinez. That set off Castillo and it "game on".

10 minutes later, 17 players were ejected, leaving the umpires in a quandary. They no longer had enough players to finish the game. Midwest League President George Spelius made the odd decision of telling the umpires to reinstate enough players to finish the game. Why not just suspend the game until Spelius could review the video of the incident, which he was going to have to do any way.

Meanwhile, Castillo was to be arraigned this morning. It could mean deportation and a loss of a work visa for the 20-yr old native of the Dominican Republic.

Just Another Day in Paradise

It was another miserable night in the Bronx last night and it had nothing to do with the torrential rain that fell earlier in the day. Derek Jeter made a critical 1st inning error and Mike Mussina couldn't recover from a rocky start as the Baltimore Orioles pounded the Yankees 12-2.

The Orioles had a 1 -0 lead with 2 on and 2 out in the 1st when Luke Scott hit a routine grounder to Jeter. The captain scooped it up and turned to flip the ball to Robinson Cano covering 2nd Base, but Cano wasn't close to the bag. Jeter quickly changed his plans and threw to 1st Base, but his throw was high, pulling Jason Giambi off the bag. The error opened the flood gates.

Mussina (6-4) walked Ramon Hernandez to force in a run and then Adam Jones hit a back breaking 3-run double to the gap in right-center field. RBI hits by Freddie Bynum and Brian Roberts followed and Mussina was making his earliest exit since he was an Oriole back in 1995.

In these types of games the Yankees rarely recover. They flop over on their backs and make any pitcher look like a hall of fame candidate. Daniel Cabrera was the fortunate recipient last evening. We have to give Cabrera credit too though, he's been a much better pitcher this year, the type the Orioles have been waiting for. Cabrera has not walked a batter in his last 2 starts. That's a major accomplishment for a guy who topped the century mark in that category 2 years in a row. One of Cabrera's pitches did have a bad impact though.

Derek Jeter was hit on the left hand in the 3rd inning and had to leave the game. X-Rays were negative and he's listed as day-to-day. Of course he expects to play today, but that remains to be seen. The injury also will lead to another Yankees suspension.

That's because LaTroy Hawkins did a poor job of retaliating for the pitch. He went head hunting after Luke Scott in the 6th inning, causing both benches to empty. No punches were thrown, but there was plenty of yelling back and forth. Home plate ump Chuck Meriweather immediately booted Hawkins, who will be hearing from league disciplanarian Bob Watson shortly.

The Yankees only runs came in the 6th when Alex Rodriguez, fresh off the disabled list, crushed a 2-run home run into the Orioles bullpen. It was his 5th of the season and career shot number 523.

Adam Jones had a big night for the O's going 4-5 with 4 RBI. Perhaps now Yahoo Sports can update his picture. Seriously in this day and age, you have to use what amounts to a bad driver's license photo or one that looks like it was taken in the morgue?

Kevin Millar, one time king of the idiots, continues to kill Yankees pitching. He had 2 hits, including a home run last night. For his career he's hitting .297 with 17 HR and 48 RBI in 97 games.

Edwar Ramirez had another scoreless inning last night and has not given up a run in 19 innings (10 with the Yankees, 9 with Scranton) combined between the majors and minors. As Ed Price of the Star Ledger reported on Monday, Ramirez got some very useful off season advice from Pedro Martinez.

"I've seen you pitch," Martinez said, as Ramirez recalled yesterday. "and you've got an incredible changeup. You don't know what you have."

It was the changeup that enabled Ramirez, a right-hander, to climb from an independent league team in Edinburg, Texas, to the majors in less than a year. But Martinez's advice to Ramirez: Use your fastball more.

Joe Girardi has stated that he may use Ramirez against left-handers in situations where a lefty specialist would normally be used.

Just Another Day in Paradise

It was another miserable night in the Bronx last night and it had nothing to do with the torrential rain that fell earlier in the day. Derek Jeter made a critical 1st inning error and Mike Mussina couldn't recover from a rocky start as the Baltimore Orioles pounded the Yankees 12-2.

The Orioles had a 1 -0 lead with 2 on and 2 out in the 1st when Luke Scott hit a routine grounder to Jeter. The captain scooped it up and turned to flip the ball to Robinson Cano covering 2nd Base, but Cano wasn't close to the bag. Jeter quickly changed his plans and threw to 1st Base, but his throw was high, pulling Jason Giambi off the bag. The error opened the flood gates.

Mussina (6-4) walked Ramon Hernandez to force in a run and then Adam Jones hit a back breaking 3-run double to the gap in right-center field. RBI hits by Freddie Bynum and Brian Roberts followed and Mussina was making his earliest exit since he was an Oriole back in 1995.

In these types of games the Yankees rarely recover. They flop over on their backs and make any pitcher look like a hall of fame candidate. Daniel Cabrera was the fortunate recipient last evening. We have to give Cabrera credit too though, he's been a much better pitcher this year, the type the Orioles have been waiting for. Cabrera has not walked a batter in his last 2 starts. That's a major accomplishment for a guy who topped the century mark in that category 2 years in a row. One of Cabrera's pitches did have a bad impact though.

Derek Jeter was hit on the left hand in the 3rd inning and had to leave the game. X-Rays were negative and he's listed as day-to-day. Of course he expects to play today, but that remains to be seen. The injury also will lead to another Yankees suspension.

That's because LaTroy Hawkins did a poor job of retaliating for the pitch. He went head hunting after Luke Scott in the 6th inning, causing both benches to empty. No punches were thrown, but there was plenty of yelling back and forth. Home plate ump Chuck Meriweather immediately booted Hawkins, who will be hearing from league disciplanarian Bob Watson shortly.

The Yankees only runs came in the 6th when Alex Rodriguez, fresh off the disabled list, crushed a 2-run home run into the Orioles bullpen. It was his 5th of the season and career shot number 523.

Adam Jones had a big night for the O's going 4-5 with 4 RBI. Perhaps now Yahoo Sports can update his picture. Seriously in this day and age, you have to use what amounts to a bad driver's license photo or one that looks like it was taken in the morgue?

Kevin Millar, one time king of the idiots, continues to kill Yankees pitching. He had 2 hits, including a home run last night. For his career he's hitting .297 with 17 HR and 48 RBI in 97 games.

Edwar Ramirez had another scoreless inning last night and has not given up a run in 19 innings (10 with the Yankees, 9 with Scranton) combined between the majors and minors. As Ed Price of the Star Ledger reported on Monday, Ramirez got some very useful off season advice from Pedro Martinez.

"I've seen you pitch," Martinez said, as Ramirez recalled yesterday. "and you've got an incredible changeup. You don't know what you have."

It was the changeup that enabled Ramirez, a right-hander, to climb from an independent league team in Edinburg, Texas, to the majors in less than a year. But Martinez's advice to Ramirez: Use your fastball more.

Joe Girardi has stated that he may use Ramirez against left-handers in situations where a lefty specialist would normally be used.

What was Richie Sexson Thinking?

Richie Sexson instigated a bench clearing brawl after he was hit by a pitch, he was brushed back a pitch didn't come close to him. Kudos to The Big Lead for the find. Pitcher Kason Gabbard, who had just been reactivated, looked like a deer caught in 6'8" headlights.

What was Richie Sexson Thinking?

Richie Sexson instigated a bench clearing brawl after he was hit by a pitch, he was brushed back a pitch didn't come close to him. Kudos to The Big Lead for the find. Pitcher Kason Gabbard, who had just been reactivated, looked like a deer caught in 6'8" headlights.