A couple more thoughts on the Asstrholes, now that Giancarlo Stanton has said he could bash 80 home runs a season if he knew the pitches coming, etc. In other words, we’re going to get a different sound byte each day from a perturbed player, and rightfully so (that they are perturbed):
— I don’t think teams will retaliate during spring training. Why bother? I think you’ll see the real vengeance come after Opening Day.
–Of the many consequences that Rob Manfred failed to consider, perhaps the most dangerous is on-field brawls. We can expect some beanings and we can expect at a certain point the Asstrholes will go full Dee Snyder and declare, “We’re not gonna take it/No, we’re not gonna take it/We’re not gonna take it/Anymoooooooooore.” And then what happens? An on-field fight or 16. And what happens if a player is seriously injured? Never mind how viral these fights will get. And that’s all on Manfred.
–You’re Justin Verlander and one or two of your All-Star batters have just been beaned this day. And you’re on the mound. You know what the unwritten rules call for you to do. You also know you’re one of the guys inside the circle who tried to get his teammates to stop banging on trash can lids. Do you throw at the opposing team’s batter? Do you “nail” batter with a 76 m.p.h. off-speed pitch as a passive aggressive memo to your own team? Do you not nail him, creating further schism inside the clubhouse?
–What IS going on inside the Astrholes clubhouse, by the way? Is it divided in two? Are certain players blaming the perpetrators for the hell they’re going to justifiably face this season? Is Dusty Baker telling them one thing very differently from what he’s saying to the press (“Here’s how we handle all the hatred and bean balls, etc.”)? I’d love to know.
–Thought about this: What if an opposing team, playing in Houston, just uses a game as a referendum? The pitcher literally bounces every pitch to the plate on two hops? The fielders take a knee. The fans boo. The opposing team doesn’t care. They can stay out there all day. Walking every batter. Refusing to play defense. Making a grand statement: If Rob Manfred doesn’t care, why should we? If Rob Manfred has no respect for the integrity of the game, why should we? How long until the umps called that contest? Imagine the statement that would make.
–Your thoughts?
Why hasn’t Gerrit Cole, now the highest paid MLB player per year & member of the 2018 & 2019 Astros, spoken up yet? Seems odd considering the recent comments made by various Yankees.
Where is your source that Verlander begged them to stop?
Did I write “begged?” I cannot see which post you are commenting on? I inferred from what he said a week ago that he had voiced his disapproval but that he was not emphatic enough.