Texas Justice

There are a few things about baseball in the current era that drive me insane. Steroids, of course, are the biggest problem but when it comes to the game itself, it's the umpires warning teams for no reason.

Last night in Arlington, Texas, Ranger Vicente Padilla drilled AJ Peirzynski twice. Both were first pitch fastballs fired directly at AJ's right shoulder. The first time, I thought it was on purpose. Padilla had amazing control last night and was sitting Sox hitters down left and right. Then in the 4th inning, AJ came up to the plate again and Padilla drilled him in his shoulder again. That time I - and everyone else who saw it - KNEW it was on purpose.

Right away Phil Cuzzi come out from behind home plate and warned both teams.

What in the hell did the White Sox do?

It's like when AJ got thrown out of the game in which Michael Barrett sucker punched him. AJ did nothing but get punched, and he was tossed.

It's gotten absolutely ridiculous.

There used to be a time when umpires let the teams settle it themselves and, guess what? Nobody got killed or shot.

Fighting and beaning batters has long been a part of baseball, and trying to change that kills part of what the game is. In hockey officials let two players fight until one goes down before breaking it up.

Now I know that umpires are just following orders when it comes to these situations, but I don't understand why Phil Cuzzi couldn't wait until the White Sox retaliated to issue them a warning.

And why not have individual warnings? In last night's incident, couldn't Cuzzi warn Padilla and the Ranger bench and leave it at that? Then issue a warning to the Sox only if they retaliate. Is this really that difficult for the umpires and MLB to figure out?

It's just another symptom of the Selig administration. A relatively good idea executed with all the grace of a chimpanzee flinging its own feces.

Luckily for the White Sox, they have a Ozzie Guillen, a manager from that old school mold. Warning or no warning, if you attack his players he will attack yours. Especially since the person who ordered Padilla plunk Pierzynski was none other than Ranger manager Buck Showalter.

When asked why Padilla plunked him, AJ had no idea. "I faced him like twice in the National League. I don't know why."

Showalter and Guillen however have a long standing feud. The two have taken jabs at each other in the media over the last few years. To be honest, I'm not even sure what started the whole thing, I just know that the two men do not like each other at all. They will not greet each other at home plate before a game to exchange lineup cards, instead sending out coaches to do it for them.

So plunking AJ was just Showalter's latest attempt to get to Guillen.

Ozzie being Ozzie brought rookie Sean Tracey into the game late with one sole purpose.

To bean Hank Blalock.

Blalock had homered and doubled in the game, so he was the best candidate to get the retaliation.

Tracey threw two inside pitches, both missing their target. He then got Blalock, who know what was going on so was a bit defensive, to ground out harmlessly. Ozzie then slammed his water bottle down on the ground and ran to the mound to pull Tracey.

Now managers don't bring in a right hander to get a lefty out, and then replace that right hander with another right hander to face a right handed hitter. So what was going on?

"I tried to get Montero ready [to face Blalock] and wasn't able to. It was a little late," Guillen explained. "It was my mistake. I didn't get him up quick enough. I didn't want Tracey in that situation."

That is manager code for "I brought in Tracey to plunk Blalock and he didn't do it. So I took him out of the game but I can't tell you that cuz then I will get fined and suspended."

All the evidence needed to prove it was the dressing down Guillen gave to Tracey in the dugout, which reportedly had the 25 year old right hander on the brink of tears. After the game, Tracey was sent back down to the AAA Charlotte Knights.

So all this leads to tonight's game. It's the final game of the four-game series between the Sox and Rangers. The Sox won the first two before being shut out last night. Though I want the Sox to retaliate, I think they would be better served to wait until the Rangers come to Chicago for a weekend series July 21-23.

Two reasons for this:

1. Wait for the heat to die down a little bit. The Sox already face the prospect of losing Brian Anderson for 5 games, and the umpires and MLB will be watching tonight's game. We don't need more suspensions right now. Especially with the arms shortage in the bullpen.
2. When the Rangers come to town in July there will be a new crew of umpires working the games. It's easier to retaliate when people aren't looking for it.

Still, knowing Ozzie and the way he operates, I won't be surprised to see some more fireworks in Arlington tonight.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

• Speaking of the arms shortage in the bullpen, the Sox made a trade today to help out.
• Ben Roethlisberger has been released from the hospital. Thankfully, it appears everything is going to be fine. Hopefully now Roethlisberger will be able to see that he isn't immortal and maybe reconsider the whole helmet idea.
• Lately, I've been reading a lot of sportswriters rip on baseball players for getting on Jason Grimsley. They're upset at players for admonishing Grimsley because he named names. What I want to know is what would these same writers do if somebody asked THEM to reveal THEIR sources? Bunch of hypocrites.
• It never fails to surprise me the number of people who think the NBA Finals are over after the home team takes a 2-0 lead. They seem to forget that NBA officials have this crazy way of helping out the home team late in games. Which is to say, this series isn't anywhere near being over. I still stand by my Heat in six prediction. It's not that crazy to think Miami can win all three games at home. They've been incredibly strong at home all season and in the postseason; they're just a different team in Miami. The only question: whether they can steal one in Dallas.
• Scary news if you're a Miami Heat fan, though. You trail 2-1, and easily could be down 3-0, and Mavs forward Josh Howard hasn't even played a good game yet.
• My prediction for Saturday: Italy 139, USA -2. Gee, why can't soccer catch on in the States? Oh yeah, we suck at it.