For those of you who missed it, last week, A’s catcher Jason Kendall was upset that Angels’ pitcher John Lackey told him to stop trying to get hit by pitches. What did Kendall do? He charged the mound, of course. You rarely see a bench-clearing brawl that starts when a curveball doesn’t hit a batter, but this one did. Perhaps most ridiculously, Lackey got ejected along with Kendall!
Thankfully, at least Major League Baseball was smart and didn’t suspend both players, choosing only to suspend Kendall while slapping Lackey with a token fine. Kendall immediately appealed his suspension, but he dropped his appeal today. Look at what he had to say:
The fact that they won’t knock anything off is embarrassing to the game because the game has changed. Now you can’t really defend yourself. I understand I have to be suspended, but it’s not like I went out and picked a fight. Nothing would have happened if he wouldn’t have said anything to me, if he wouldn’t have taken three steps hard at me.
Ummmm, excuse me, Jason. You didn’t go out and pick a fight? Nothing would have happened if he hadn’t said anything? Actually, nothing would have happened if you didn’t have the maturity of a four-year-old. Heck, even four-year-olds know about sticks and stones and whatnot.
I get called out by Lackey. He calls me out and disrespects me and I’m supposed to sit here and have him yell at me? So basically what Major League Baseball is saying is that any big league pitcher out there can yell at somebody and get fined $2,000. That’s what the fine was.
I have to believe that any intelligent adult can see how stupid Jason Kendall is, so I won’t say anything else. Just, wow.