By Dave Holcomb
Major League Baseball announced Tuesday Ryan Dempster will be suspended five games for intentionally hitting Yankees’ Third Baseman Alex Rodriguez.
Dempster threw all of his first four pitches inside to Rodriguez in the 2nd inning on Sunday night. The 3-0 pitch nailed A-Rod in the elbow. Dempster also received an undisclosed fine according to ESPN.com.
New York Yankees Manager Joe Girardi will also receive an undisclosed fine for his argument with the home plate umpire on Sunday. Girardi sprinted out to home plate once the pitch struck A-Rod’s elbow guard. The Yankees’ skipper was thrown out of the game, but he did have a valid point afterwards.
“You just can’t throw at someone because you don’t like him or disagree with the way something’s being handled,” Girardi said. “If a player is suspended for throwing at someone, they’re going to get their appeal. Are we going to throw that out, too? So, I mean, this is what’s been negotiated.”
Ironically, Dempster will now likely file for an appeal of his suspension. Although Girardi has a good point, Dempster’s appeal of a five-game suspension versus A-Rod’s 211-games is very different.
A-Rod may have more of a right to appeal his suspension because of the seriousness (career ruined, $30 millions lost) of a plus-200 game absence. Dempster is only going to miss one start, so he has less to moan about, but during the appeal process has a better argument for playing.
Pitchers have been beaming batters for over a century, and they always will. A-Rod cheated the game; he lied, got caught and ratted out his peers. There’s no way the MLB removes his entire suspension, so even though it could be reduced to 50-games (and should be quite frankly), A-Rod should not be able to help the Yankees make a push for the playoffs.
Frankly, I am surprised that more pitchers have not gone A-Rod hunting. All the more reason to get him out of the game, now!