Let's Talk About Last Night

Okay, so an interesting game last night at Coveleski Stadium.  Let's pick things up in the top of the fifth...

Chris Jacobs plowed Ramon Castillo at the plate to score the 7th run of the night for the Loons.  Castillo was airborne to catch a high throw and defenseless and it appeared that Jacobs went out of his way to run him over when a simple slide would have easily scored the run.

I said last night that I felt it was a dirty play, but the intent was not to hurt Castillo.  It's a play that should not have happened, but Jacobs certainly did not want to injure Castillo or give him a concussion (which after the game I found out Castillo went to the hospital with concussion symptoms).

Fast forward to the seventh inning, and Chris Jacobs comes back to the plate.  Basically, everyone in the stadium knew that he was going to get hit.  I am not a big fan of intentionally hitting a batter, but in baseball, the players basically police themselves and Patrick Schuster had to stand up for his teammate.  Schuster hit Jacobs in the legs (and I applaud him for not going head hunting) and home plate umpire Mike Patterson immediately tossed Schuster.

Two things happened next that I felt escalated the situation.  First of all, Jacobs reacted like he couldn't believe they threw out him.  I think that he should have expected it because of his dirty play, dropped the bat, and run to first base.  Instead, he reacted aggessively which resulted in the benches emptying.

The next thing that happened is something I found out after the game.  Manager Mark Haley asked umpire Mike Patterson why Schuster was ejected (benches had not been warned).  Apparently, the umpire told Haley that Schuster mouthed-off after hitting Jacobs and that's why he got tossed.  However, that simply cannot be true because everyone saw Patterson eject Schuster immediately.  That's why Mark Haley argued to the point of being tossed -- he felt the umpire lied to him.

Here's hoping cooler heads prevail today.  I would imagine that Jacobs might get a day off.  By the way, I applaud Loons manager John Shoemaker for the way he handled everything.  I thought he showed a lot of class in showing concern for the injured Castillo and for the way he tried to calm Jacobs down.

Just my thoughts...your mileage may vary.

Court Decision from 2008 Brawl

Do you all remember the big brawl last season between the Dayton Dragons and Peoria Chiefs at Fifth Third Field? It made national headlines because a pitcher for Peoria threw a ball towards the Dragons dugout, missed badly, and struck a fan in the head. He was arrested and charged with two different assault charges.

Today, he was found guilty on one of the charges. Click the link for the story.

Why am I posting this on a Silver Hawks blog?

1) I was broadcasting the game as a color commentator, and it turned out to be the wildest night/week of my professional career. The next day I had calls from more national media outlets than you could ever imagine wanting me to comment (ESPN, Fox News, Inside Edition, Etc.), and more friends than I knew I had wanting to know if I was broadcasting. We were not going to comment as members of the Dragons staff, and I still won't comment now because it's not my place. My opinion on the court case and the brawl is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

2) It involved the Midwest League, so I find it to be an important story in that regards.

3) It's a painful reminder of how a game can get too serious. You wouldn't think we'd need to remind ourselves that this is a game that we play/watch because it's fun and it takes our minds off of the problems in everyday life. LIke anyone, I get caught up and wins and losses, and certainly want my favorite sports teams to win. But ultimately, it's still just a game, and we need to remember that from time to time.