All things considered, we won the game.
And truly, any team that ever wins a championship is faced with adversity, and they overcome it.
It's only 10 games into the season.
This is how I have been consoling myself, and for the most part, I am correct. It is very likely that I have little to worry about. I assume that my reading audience is my reading audience because they care about sports (particularly baseball), heavy metal, and video games. Because I am fairly certain that most of you who are reading this now are aware of the brawl that took place between the Dodgers and the Padres on Thursday (last night, if you are reading this on Friday), I won't waste a lot of space or time explaining it. Vin Scully has already done an excellent job with that.
However, something doesn't sit right. I just can't get Darryl Strawberry, Andruw Jones, Jason Schmidt, Kevin Brown, and Juan Uribe out of my mind. I know I shouldn't panic, but as fan of a team who's 25th anniversary of success is happening this year, I just can't help it. Is this another case of the Dodgers free-agency curse?
We (don't make me explain it again) have had terrible luck with free agents. So there is a part of me that wants to acquiesce to that.
This time, however, it's different. It wasn't our fault. It was THEIRS. "They" are the San Diego
Padres, and "he", in particular, is Carlos Quentin.
Carlos Quentin is the Right Fielder for the San Diego Padres. He made a terribly uninformed baseball decision, and it has cost my team their 147-million-dollar, #2 starter for the next 6 weeks.
Carlos Quentin is the ALL-TIME, MLB LEADER in HBP per at-bat. Yes, Don Baylor holds the record for most career beanings, but NO ONE has been plunked at so prolific a rate as Carlos Quentin.
Zack Greinke, including tonight, has beaned Carlos Quentin 3 times, a number he shares with 4 other major league pitchers.
This evening, Carlos Quentin was beaned with the count set at 3-2. On the 2-1 pitch, he was made to look like a FOOL on a breaking ball, down. He wisely took the next pitch, in the same spot, to make the count full. Zack Greinke was trying to get Carlos Quentin out. On the 3-2 pitch, Zack Greinke lost the handle and smashed Quentin in the SHOULDER. Not the head. Padres fans will dispute this FACT. But, it's still a fact. Refer to Vin's video, above.
Any reasonable baseball fan should know that Greinke's beanball was unintentional. Which is what makes it all the more shocking that Carlos Quentin, a professional ballplayer, would be so stupid as to believe that the Dodgers were throwing at him. May I present some bullet points?
- The count was 3-2. I've said it already, but it bears repeating. Don Drysdale once said that it only takes ONE pitch to intentionally walk a batter. This still holds true. If Greinke meant to hit him, why would he waste the energy to work the count to 3-2? Especially to waste the energy throwing a filthy breaking ball on 2-1? Carlos Quentin hasn't exactly been a Dodger Killer this series, so again, why?
- Carlos Quentin may believe, mistakenly, since Matt Kemp was the recipient of some chin music in the first inning, that the Dodgers were retaliating by plunking Carlos Quentin. Well, I have news for Carlos Quentin. First of all, your pitcher, Andrew Cashner, MISSED Matt Kemp. We don't retaliate for failure. That's the way LOSERS think. Second of all, Carlos Quentin should get over himself. Even if we WERE retaliating, we wouldn't waste our one good fastball on Carlos Quentin. Chase Headley, sure, but not Carlos Quentin.
- The score of the game was 2-1, and there were no outs. What benefit would we gain by beaning Carlos Quentin, thereby putting the tying run on base with no outs? True retaliation comes in the first inning of our next series at home. You should know that. And if you think that you have it bad now, wait until you get to Dodger Stadium.
- All of that considered, if you still think Carlos Quentin was justified in charging the mound, remember that Zack Greinke received a fractured collarbone. I can already hear some of you Giants fans mocking me, claiming that the Greinke situation is identical to the Buster Posey/Scott Cousins situation, but I tell you that it's not. Zack Greinke was injured by an action that is actually AGAINST THE RULES. Buster Posey was injured on a very unfortunate baseball play, where no rules were broken.
I am very concerned about what might happen to my team. Even though I know I shouldn't be, I probably should.
