Rangers and Angels finally fight for 2nd..

[yavozerb]

Since niether team could figure out who belonged in 2nd behind the A's and wouldnt you know it, they both still belong 6 games back, damn!!

[samikeyp]

That was hilarious.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

The fight was okay, but the HBPs were top-notch.

[samikeyp]

Two Rangers get hit, they take it like men and take their base, one Angel gets hit, he freaks and charges. Pussy.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Two Rangers get hit, they take it like men and take their base, one Angel gets hit, he freaks and charges. Pussy.

I kind of have to disagree there.

The Rangers knew they were going to get hit. Retaliation for that ing nutball Padilla plunking Vlad and some other Angel the night before.

It should have ended right there. Bottom 8.

But nope, the AAAA pitcher who plunked Kennedy had been going with control through the first two outs of the inning. There was no doubt it was going to be on at that point.

And I guarantee we're going to see another brawl in the final six meetings.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

The other thing not being noted was Mark DeRosa's badass tackle of Kennedy.

9.8/10

[Melmart1]

The Angels ARE a bunch of pussies. That Kennedy guy, he got into a fight a few years back during BP w/ Gerald Laird, our backup catcher who was playing last night. So there is a history and the dude is just a hot-headed asshole.

Oh, and DeRosa is a former football player, so he really knew what he was doing there. That tackle was superb, indeed

[Solid D]

Does anyone think Padilla will be jettisoned after this season? He stood there in the dugout looking like the cat that ate the canary. He is the human ripple effect.

[samikeyp]

The Angels are just lucky Nolan wasn't pitching.

Best Baseball Beatdown EVER.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

The Angels ARE a bunch of pussies. That Kennedy guy, he got into a fight a few years back during BP w/ Gerald Laird, our backup catcher who was playing last night. So there is a history and the dude is just a hot-headed asshole.

Oh, and DeRosa is a former football player, so he really knew what he was doing there. That tackle was superb, indeed

Yeah, but once it's done, it's done....you don't continue it.

Any one of those Angels would have charged, not just Kennedy, that AAAA pitcher just happened to choose AK.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...r.33619cc.html

Padilla hears it from Showalter

Manager speaks with pitcher about actions that prompted brawl

11:41 PM CDT on Wednesday, August 16, 2006

By EVAN GRANT / The Dallas Morning News

ARLINGTON – Vicente Padilla may not want to talk to many people. On Wednesday, he didn't have to. He only had to listen to manager Buck Showalter.

Showalter said he had a "pointed" conversation with Padilla about his actions Tuesday, which included throwing at three batters, hitting two, getting ejected and putting himself and his manager in line for MLB suspensions.

Tuesday's events obviously led to the heightened tension that resulted in Wednesday's brawl, not to mention put a strain on the Rangers' bullpen and rotation.

Padilla could be suspended for one start, which would be Sunday at Detroit if he does not appeal. Showalter said he expects to be suspended one game because that has been customary when a pitcher is ejected after receiving a warning from umpires.

"I hope they decide otherwise, but that wouldn't surprise me," general manager Jon Daniels said about the possibility of the Rangers receiving disciplinary action.

MLB officials acknowledged the incident was under review, but vice president of on-field operations Bob Watson did not return a phone message Wednesday. The Rangers said they could hear from the league as early as today.

Padilla does not speak to the media, so his thoughts were unavailable. The club will not take further disciplinary action. Showalter said he made Padilla aware of the Rangers' thoughts about his night of wildness.

"I do not want to take anything lightly," Showalter said. "Our conversation was pointed. We need him out there pitching."

Tuesday's performance was the second incident in six weeks that ended with the Rangers and Padilla talking behind closed doors. He was arrested on July 7 and charged with driving while intoxicated.

More details about the arrest emerged Wednesday. Padilla was stopped near Mockingbird and Greenville at about 1 a.m. July 7 after he ran a red light and accelerated around two vehicles without signaling, police said. During the traffic stop, he was given field sobriety tests that indicated intoxication, according to police. The results of the test were not released.

According to police, Padilla said he consumed four beers starting at 9 p.m., with the last one consumed about an hour before the stop. He told police he was coming from a Mexican restaurant.

Daniels said the Rangers have "addressed" both situations with Padilla, but he did not elaborate on how they might affect the team's desire to re-sign him for 2007. Padilla, who leads the Rangers in wins with 12, can be a free agent after the season.

"As different situations have come up, they've been addressed," Daniels said.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...w.3350355.html

Ugly incidents blemish Rangers on national, local stage

12:14 AM CDT on Thursday, August 17, 2006

ARLINGTON – The benches cleared Wednesday night, and while it was a harmless bit of fun for the fans, it also reminded you that this Rangers team wants no part in re-signing the best starting pitcher on the staff.

Vicente Padilla, what were you thinking Tuesday night?

Better yet: Were you thinking?

After a four-game sweep of Seattle lifted spirits in the Rangers clubhouse, Padilla squashed them Tuesday night when he hit two Angels batters and got himself and manager Buck Showalter tossed in the fourth inning of a 9-7 defeat.

That put the ball in the Angels' court Wednesday, and they retaliated in the eighth inning of a game they were losing 9-3. Kevin Gregg threw one pitch behind Ian Kinsler, then drilled Michael Young in the back to draw an ejection.

Enter Brendan Donnelly, who hit Freddy Guzman with his fourth pitch. Exit Donnelly.

That should have been the end of it, but it wasn't. Rangers reliever Scott Feldman plunked Adam Kennedy, who charged the mound, emptying the benches and the bullpens.

No punches of any magnitude were thrown, but you can't say that this thing between the Rangers and Angels is over, even if their pursuit of Oakland nearly is.

The 9-3 victory gave Texas a split with the Angels. But a team that's having trouble keeping Oakland in its sights really needed more from its 12-game winner Tuesday night.

Before Wednesday night's game, Rangers players said they anticipated getting hit and that the Angels really had no choice. They called Padilla's throwing at Angels "bush league" and were embarrassed by his actions.

Now, they hope, it's over.

"You hate to see it happen because the potential to get hurt is there," Young said. "Hopefully, it's out of our system."

But nothing would have happened Wednesday night if not for Padilla's dumb actions Tuesday night.

Why is it every year a team that is led by individuals as classy as Young, Mark Teixeira, Rod Barajas and others generates national publicity for doing something downright stupid?

In 2004, in the heat of a division race for the only real time in this decade, there was the ugly chair-tossing incident in Oakland. Showalter initially blamed it on A's security and fans before apologizing for Frankie Francisco's behavior the next day.

Francisco was suspended for 15 games.

Last year, pitcher Kenny Rogers went off on a local cameraman, an act inspired in part by management's whispers that Rogers had injured a hand in order to miss a start against the tough Angels lineup.

Rogers was suspended for 20 games.

Now comes Padilla, no stranger to creating conflict by throwing at hitters. He had hit 50 batters in the National League before joining Texas and is tied for the American League lead with Chicago's Javier Vasquez with 14 hit batsmen.

The Rangers expect Padilla to be suspended, and he should be.

But it's a scary thing when a team's best starter – that was supposed to be Kevin Millwood, but thus far you have to say it has been Padilla – is beyond the control of the manager or his teammates.

Showalter said the coaching staff's discussion with Padilla on Wednesday was "pointed" and that the pitcher showed some sign of contrition.

But you would like to hear Showalter take a stronger stance against Padilla's actions, against what Rogers did a year ago, against Francisco's moment of insanity two years ago.

These are the things that define the Rangers' image nationally, rather than the work ethic of a Michael Young. Maybe these things haunt them locally, too. Maybe it's not just the heat that's keeping fans away from Ameriquest Field.

An inability to portray themselves for what they are – mostly a hustling, overachieving club that forever is in need of another pitcher or two – hurts them at the turnstiles.

Wednesday wasn't the time for the Rangers to announce that they have no intention of trying to re-sign Padilla when he becomes a free agent this winter. But hopefully that's what general manager Jon Daniels was implying when he said everything would be taken into account when the team addresses its free agents.

"Bothered is not the right word, but I was disappointed how things unfolded last [Tuesday] night," Daniels said. "We've got a lot on the line. To have anything get in the way of that, it's disappointing to see.

"It's not something you don't see from time to time in baseball. But it's not something you're proud of. We're relying on these guys to pitch deep into games. Championship teams can't do [what Padilla did]."

Neither can the Rangers, wherever they finish. That's unless they forever want to be known as the team that self-destructs in unprofessional fashion somewhere along the way.

If Showalter really wanted to show Padilla what's what, well, we all know they wouldn't be waiting for the league to suspend VP.

As the Angels' Adam Kennedy charged the Rangers' Scott Feldman last night, I happened to be sitting on the Baseball Tonight set adjacent to Tino Martinez, whom I twice saw get hit under similar cir stances, by Armando Benitez.

This is what this comes down to: On Tuesday night, Vicente Padilla stunk, and rather than just take some responsibility and do his job and try to make better pitches, Padilla started firing fastballs at the hitters. Then last night, with the Angels getting blown out, they felt the need to answer back, to retaliate, and that's how Kennedy wound up going after Feldman with two outs in the ninth inning.

That's what happened with Tino. In 1995, when he was with Seattle, and in 1998, when he was with the Yankees, Benitez made bad pitches, he got hit around and so he fired fastballs at Tino. To me, there's nothing more gutless in the sport.

You're mad because you're giving up runs? Well then, make better pitches. Don't take it out on the next hitter.

As the benches cleared in both instances when Tino got hit -- during play, while the players were still grabbing and pushing -- some of Benitez's Orioles teammates were apologizing to their opponents for the actions of the pitcher. And I suspect that this took place last night, in some form or fashion. The Rangers are a good team that plays hard, and they probably were almost as angry at Padilla as the Angels were. (And remember, the White Sox have had their issues with Padilla, too.)

As Evan Grant writes in his story, the scores might not be totally settled -- it looked as though Juan Rivera was gesturing at the Rangers' dugout and motioning toward the distance: Hey, we'll take care of this outside (or maybe he meant in Anaheim). We'll see.

What were you thinking, Vicente Padilla, writes Tim Cowlishaw. Padilla got an earful from his manager before the game. The Angels held a team meeting afterward and talked about what happened. Joe Saunders is wearied.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

And you know what, the same thing goes for the Angels.

Scioscia said he doesn't condone beanballs for retaliation? Bull ...and I've always liked Mike Scioscia.

Players don't take things into their own hands, and if they do, they're dealt with by the manager.

You're telling me Scioscia couldn't have stopped this after Young got hit before Donnelly came in. Bull .

Don't get me wrong, I love basebrawls and know they have a place in the game, I just get tired of the acts these managers and players put on. I can respect Ozzie Guillen for not ing around with the fans and just call a spade, a spade.

[Condemned 2 HelLA]

The Rangers already had the game well in hand and still felt it necessary to start playing bean ball?
That is totally bush.

[Solid D]

The Rangers already had the game well in hand and still felt it necessary to start playing bean ball?
That is totally bush.

Actually, no. Perhaps, you misunderstood.

The Rangers were losing on Tuesday night when Padilla started throwing at people....again. The Rangers already had the game well in hand on Wednesday night, when the Angels started retaliating by throwing at 3 Rangers' hitters.

[Condemned 2 HelLA]

Actually, no. Perhaps, you misunderstood.

The Rangers were losing on Tuesday night when Padilla started throwing at people....again. The Rangers already had the game well in hand on Wednesday night, when the Angels started retaliating by throwing at 3 Rangers' hitters.

Okay.
Wasn't aware that was the case the night before.
My mistake.

[Obstructed_View]

Beanball. Probably just as well that I didn't play baseball. My thoughts are that if a guy is going to throw his piece of sporting equpment at me, I'll chuck mine back at his ass, and mine's made of hickory.

[Solid D]

Have you seen my new video, "Tom Emanski's playing Baseball for Blood?"

[NorCal510]

those s aint got on da a's