First Pitch: Josh Beckett's Ridiculous Suspension

On Sunday afternoon in Orange County there was a bit of a scrum between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels. Well, it was a scrum in the sense of a fight in baseball. Benches emptied, players shoved and yelled at each other, and eventually everybody went back to the dugout and finished their bags of sunflower seeds.

All because Josh Beckett took exception to Bobby Abreu calling a timeout while Beckett was in his wind-up. Beckett continued to throw his pitch, and buzzed Abreu's tower like Tom Cruise in Top Gun.

He didn't hit him, he just sent a baseball with the message "Fuck you" on it.

This got everybody's panties in a bunch and in the end resulted in a six-game suspension for Beckett. For not hitting Abreu. Am I the only one outside of Red Sox fans who finds this absolutely ridiculous?

Beckett didn't hit Abreu, didn't throw any punches, and did nothing but have a heated conversation with Abreu and this is worth a six-game suspension? Granted, for a pitcher that's only one start, but in the AL East where one game may end up being the difference between the playoffs and having October off, it could loom large.

Apparently MLB's reasoning for the suspension was that they didn't like the way Beckett handled the situation.

As Beckett said himself, it seems MLB "wanted me to hug him, but I wasn't really in the mood for any hugs."

At the risk of sounding like some old-timer former player who's upset with the big salaries and special treatment today's players get, what is with the pussification of this sport? Don't get me wrong, I don't think a pitcher should ever throw at a guy's head, but Beckett didn't throw at Abreu's head.

He threw over it.

Maybe we can just start letting people hit off of a tee or just cut home plate in half because MLB seems to be doing everything in its power to keep pitchers from being able to pitch inside.

I Jinxed Another One

On Monday I may have possibly had something to do with ruining Ted Lilly's no-hit bid. After noticing what was going on during the 7th inning I texted Silvio about it, he texted back saying he was aware of it, and then, poof, it was over.

I don't learn from my lessons.

My inbox began getting flooded with emails from the MLB FanHouse Google group and I checked them because I figured something had to be going on. That's when I found out that the Yankees A.J. Burnett had a no-hitter going through six innings against the Rays.

I immediately called my friend Vic to let him know about it because he has Burnett on his fantasy team, and not two second later Carl Crawford was taking an 0-2 pitch the other way for a single, ending Burnett's possible no-hitter.

I'd say I feel bad about it, but frankly, I'm starting to enjoy these newfound powers of mine.

Speaking of which, did you know that Angelina Jolie has never had sex with me? She's had a no-sex with Tom Fornelli going for well over 28 years now.

3...2...1.....

Aw, damn it.

Tom Glavine's Career May Be Over

Tom Glavine generally spent the majority of his career overshadowed by both Greg Maddux and John Smoltz in the Braves starting rotation through the 90s, but that doesn't mean he wasn't every bit as great a pitcher as either of them were.

You needn't look past the 305 wins he's racked up in his 22 years of MLB service to see that.

Well, it's starting to look like those 22 years are coming to an end. Glavine has been spending his time in the Braves farm system after surgery on his left elbow and shoulder last August in hopes of getting back into the Braves rotation. On Tuesday Glavine had some inflammation and discomfort in his shoulder and was told by Dr. James Andrews to rest his arm for at least two weeks, and now Glavine is wondering if it's even worth it anymore.

"From my own standpoint, it works better for me to kind of have a timetable to say, OK, let's give it this amount of time, and if we see some progress, then good. We'll know we're going in the right direction," Glavine said. "If we don't, then I think maybe at that point in time maybe we need to sit down and honestly think about how much more I want to go through this and whether or not anything is going to change."

If he does end up retiring, they can start working on his Hall of Fame plaque.

Shocking News: Chris Carpenter Hurt

Speaking of pitchers with injuries, Cardinals starter and former Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter is in love with getting hurt these days. After making only four starts last season before needing elbow surgery, Carpenter returned to the mound for the Redbirds this season hoping to lead the Cardinals back to the World Series.

In his first start of the season he was magnificent, going seven shutout innings and allowing only one hit while striking out seven. Sure it was against the Pirates, but MLB still recognizes them as an actual team, so the numbers count in the record books.

Then on Wednesday night Carpenter made his second start of the year which didn't turn out too well. He strained his ribcage while grounding out to third in the fourth inning and didn't return.

Nothing is official yet, but I'm willing to bet he's got a date with the disabled list in his future.

Today's Game Of The Century

While we have a Cubs and a Sox game today (fingers crossed) that doesn't mean you can't expand your baseball horizons. Watch somebody else play, you may find out that baseball is just as enjoyable, if not more, when your dreams aren't being crushed along with it.

If you're ready to live on the edge, I suggest tuning into the Nationals and Phillies. After all, the Nats are 0-7 right now and are going to have to win a game eventually. Don't you want to be there when they do?

At the very least maybe Adam Dunn will invite you over to his house for a "Nice dinner. Maybe McDonalds. Super size. Watch a few episodes of Family Guy. Play some XBox."

Today's Poll