Carlos Quentin said the reason he charged Zack Greinke after getting plunked in Thursday’s Dodgers/Padres game is because the pair had history. Bad history.
Quentin said it goes back to an alleged bean ball he received from Greinke in 2009, one that, apparently, left a wound onQuentin much deeper than a mere bruise.
However, said Quentin, he would have let it all go—past and present—if Greinke didn’t say something provocative immediately after hitting him Thursday night.
Yeah, sure, Carlos.
Look, If you’re coming up to the plate as baseball’s leader in hit by pitches, in a one run game, in a full count, thinking about what some pitcher may or may not have intentionally did to you 4 seasons ago and how you’d like to get even for it, I highly doubt you’re ready to let bygones be bygones.
In fact, if you’re going to take that attitude while leading the game in bean ball receptions, you don’t need some extra body armor, you need a therapist.
What Carlos Quentin did against the Dodgers was stupid. Bad for his career, bad for his team, and bad for baseball.
And the price will be more than a suspension, It will be “open season” declared on Padres hitters. The next time these two teams find themselves in a lopsided ball game, expect fireworks set to chin music.
Oh, and I say lopsided because that is the proper time to plunk a hitter; when the game is essentially decided, not when a win or loss is still on the line.
This is also the same reason I don’t buy the thinking that Greinke beaned Quentin as retaliation for the Padres buzzing Kemp earlier in the same game. Kemp got a fastball up and in in a 0-2 count. That’s a common count to expect an elevated fastball. No harm intended there, even if the ball did get a little to far up for Kemp’s taste. That’s just part of baseball.
And no harm intend in a 3-2 count, where the starting pitcher is trying to get a decision and give his team a chance to hold on to a 1 run lead. It’s called an accident, and those are part of baseball, too. And, if you’re like Quentin; habitually the target of “accidents”, maybe you should take a look at your orientation to the plate instead of thinking every pitcher in the game hates you (although you might be well on your way now).
Oddly, I don’t blame Carlos Quentin for breaking Greinke’s collarbone. Greinke, though I don’t think he should have been charged, was stupid to throw his glove down and stand toe to toe with a guy that much bigger than himself. Stupider still to lower his shoulder and take the hit.
“Greinke could have waved it off or apologized” says the fan expecting athletes full of fire and competitive, in-the-moment-passion to be level headed. But if you’re a pitcher and you make a mistake high and tight, you own that mistake. You don’t act like you’re sorry. You act like you’re the lord of all creation and your throne is the pitcher’s mound. You intimidate the hitter, whether you’re right or wrong.
“And look what it got him,” Says the finger waggling purist, “hurt. Now his team will suffer. What a terrible example for our children.”
Maybe, But Greinke knew—since Quentin walked out in front of the mound and mean-mugged him—that the bull wanted to charge. If Greinke would have let wave the red cape, keeping Quitnen fixated while he back peddled, Gonzlaes would have had plenty of time to blindside Quentin like a dump truck. Which, by the way, is a lesson all young pitchers can learn: If your first baseman is bigger and meaner than you, let him handle your dirty work.
The bottom line is, this fight is not over. Their will be serious sanctions laid down by the MLB to try and put the fire out, but it won’t work. It will smolder and catch flame again eventually.
The code has been broken, and if you think Quentin has a long memory, you have no idea how long the Baseball God’s memory is. There will be retaliation, and the Padres know it.
What they don’t know is when. It might happen Monday, or, the Dodgers may choose to enjoy making the Padres uncomfortable at the plate for as long as it suits their purposes.