The incident...motivation? Latest: no suspensions; undisclosed fines for Mota and Fielder (reply #71ish)

[DHonks]

After tonight's game, the situation apparently became very interesting. Fielder running around the tunnels in Dodger Stadium to go after Mota. Teammates and security having to restrain Fielder. Macha getting very angry with Dodgers reporters. Heck, it's the first time Macha's shown any fire, himself.

 

Does anything think this could be the event that gets the Brewers going? They've had one good stretch of around 30 games, while the rest of the season has been full of lackluster play and poor pitching. But this could be the event which gets them fired up and playing hard.

 

(edit: updated information in title --1992)

[SeriesFinale]

Does anything think this could be the event that gets the Brewers going?

No. The effort's been there. The pitching is just plain bad.

 

Anyway, I hope this circus dies down. Torrewas definitely in the wrong but Prince trying to start a brawl or whatever downstairs is pretty ridiculous. I mean, I assume he didn't care for it within the context of his past friendship with Mota (and obviously within the context of the game--Swindle and Smith just can't pitch, and Smith doesn't have close to the kind of control to go for Ramirez' wrists), but it's not like Mota went for his head or anything.

[trwi7]

Does anything think this could be the event that gets the Brewers going?

No. First it was the Pirates fight, that didn't work. What makes you think this will work? The only way this gets the Brewers going is if it magically makes Looper stop sucking and heals Bush's arm faster.

[wibadgers23]

I understand where you're coming from DHonks, but the pitching is still a disaster. Even our once very dependable bullpen is struggling mightily right now due to being overworked. Add in the fact that the Cubs and Cardinals both added some nice players before the deadline and they are playing pretty good right now. That being said, we still have a very soft schedule in August with Bush returning in a couple weeks. So anything is possible, although we haven't exactly taken advantage of the soft schedule yet.

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

I know what you're saying, and I want to buy in... but I can't.

 

If a beanball has to get them going, rather than being pissed about going from being tied for first to 5 GB in a month, this team has big issues.

[TooLiveBrew]

Torre showed what a classless clown he can be tonight, but it sounds like Fielder really needs to grow up a bit still.

[JoeHova]

I just hope Prince doesn't get suspended. This kind of incident is not unheard of though. A few years ago, a Jazz rookie named Kirk Snyder taunted Jerry Stackhouse during a game. Stackhouse waited for him after the game and viciously beat him down. More famously, a Warrior named Chris Mills tried to fight the entire Blazer team after an in-game altercation with Bonzi Wells. Mills went so far as to use his car to try to block the Blazer team bus from driving away. Some of the Blazers were going to go out to try to calm Mills down, but Damon Stoudamire, who was friendly with Mills because they both went to Arizona, told his teammates not to try it because he knew Mills to be an unstable gun nut. The team bus had to drive up on the curb to make its getaway, but Mills chased them all the way to the airport before he abandoned his attempt at revenge.

 

Hopefully this will serve as motivation, but I don't know how much that will really help. I'm sure the guys were already pretty motivated to do well, for their own sake and the team's. I doubt that this incident will now make JJ realize he should start hitting well or Suppan and Looper realize they should stop being the two worst pitchers in baseball. They were most likely already trying to play well.

[The Heartbreak Yid]

Does anything think this could be the event that gets the Brewers going?

No. First it was the Pirates fight, that didn't work. What makes you think this will work? The only way this gets the Brewers going is if it magically makes Looper stop sucking and heals Bush's arm faster.

or better yet, makes them magically re aquire CC Sabathia and a 100% healthy Ben Sheets decides to come back.

[Invader3K]

Cory Provus mentioned on Brewers 360 this morning that Hong Chi Kuo struck out Prince earlier in the game and seemed to make some sort of taunting gesture at Prince...so it's probable that it wasn't just Mota's unnecessary drilling that set him off.

 

I hope this "fires them up" just enough to get a win today after an ugly loss. A series win against LA would be pretty nice, especially at this point.

[Funketown]

---

Does anything think this could be the event that gets the Brewers going?

Probably not, but if they do, John Kruk and the boys on ESPN will probably view it as the catalyst that got the Brewers going. You know, John Kruk rambling and all that.

[Fatter than Joey]

Honestly, I think this could be as much of a distraction as it would be a "boost"

[JohnBriggs12]

Motivation isn't the problem. Lack of talent on the mound and an offense that is predictably inconsistent is.

[Invader3K]

http://cbs2.com/video/?id=110706@kcbs.dayport.com

 

A bit of video of last night's events.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I would agree with most of you...this isn't going to all of a sudden make our pitchers become good or even mediocre. The local news mentioned Manny has been hit 3 times in the last 10 games and the team had become unhappy with their star being continually pitched inside or plunked. Martin basically admitted to doing it in the LA Times, also referring to last year's loss to the Phils. From their point of view, this was a message to the league not neccesarily the Brewers:

 

"It's protection," Martin said of the pitch. "It's just about keeping the team unified and pulling the wagons together."

 

Martin said the Dodgers didn't want to repeat the scenario they had in the National League championship series last year against Philadelphia, when they were intimidated by Phillies pitchers and refused to retaliate.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers-brewers5-2009aug05,0,4350802.story

 

After the game I mentioned to my buddy that Prince really took it well and seemed to have lost the angst he was carrying when he first came in the league. I mentioned now that he's a Dad and has his first decent contract he's really mellowed out and that if this was a few years ago, they would be digging a 6 foot hole for Mota after Fielder charged the mound...then I read what happened. Guess he still has a little rage under there. My guess is this isn't finished.

[JoeHova]

My guess is this isn't finished.

You might be right, but I think it probably is. The Brewers (Mike Cameron especially) were making all kinds of threats towards the Pirates during their last series with them and the last 2 games of the series passed without incident.

[Invader3K]

My view would be I'd rather just see them try to win. I'm all for protecting guys, but I think you just let this one slide and focus on trying to win a series against the best team in baseball. That would be a better revenge than some pointless plunking.

[joepepsi]

Let me just say here I can't stand Joe Torre.

[owbc]

This isn't even the first time that someone has tried to chase down Mota after a game. Mike Piazza also tried it a few years ago.

 

I hope MLB cracks down on this. That was one of the most obvious purpose pitchers I have ever seen.

[LouisEly]

Fielder never should have been in the game in the 9th down 17-4. No need to risk even a stupid accidental sprain of the knee or ankle getting a spike caught or have a Yo Gallardo happen. Just stupid of Macha even having him in the game at that point.

 

I'm really close to hopping on the "Macha must go" bandwagon.

[bjkrautk]

How amazing is it that this happened one year - to the day - of the Fielder / Parra incident last year?

 

(Maybe we should just sit Prince on 8/4/2010?)

 

FWIW, the Brewers won 8 in a row following that display; let's hope something similar happens here.

 

 

While I understand the unwritten rules regarding protecting your star players....the Dodgers are practically admitting that the HBP was intentional, which should be grounds for a 2-3 game suspension for Mota. I have my doubts it will happen, but we'll see.

[molitor fan]

Russell Martin, he of the amazingly Jason Kendall-like stat line, needs to shut his trap too based upon the added input of that video....My visceral emotions would love to see him get a rib tickler today, though I know that would not be the wisest course of action

 

The fact that the Dodgers had a pitcher warming up with 2 outs in 9th of 17-4 game just shows how galling this was, plus there are several Dodgers giving their admission of intent - unreal.....Torre should get 10 games.....I really think that because of Selig, opposing teams feel they can get away with whatever they want versus the Brewers because the commisioners office does not want to be hit with the impression of favoritism

[Invader3K]

Fielder never should have been in the game in the 9th down 17-4. No need to risk even a stupid accidental sprain of the knee or ankle getting a spike caught or have a Yo Gallardo happen. Just stupid of Macha even having him in the game at that point.

 

I think this opinion is kind of ridiculous. A player could just as easily get hurt in the 1st inning as the 9th. I think you're really grasping at straws to justify some anger at Ken Macha.

[SeriesFinale]

After the game I mentioned to my buddy that Prince really took it well

Yeah, that's what I thought too--right afterwards he was laughing. Laughing incredulously, yeah, but the sense of humor was there.

 

Maybe he just got chapped the more he thought about the context--taking a clearly, clearly premeditated purpose pitch under extremely questionable circumstances at the absolute tail end of a blowout. It is pretty galling by Torre and the Dodgers, as someone put it.

 

Still, I wouldn't advocate attacking guys in the tunnel or whatever. But I've kinda changed my mind from last night and think a Dodger does need to get dotted in the first tonight. I'm willing to bet that warnings are issued before the game though, or worse, after one of our guys gets plunked in the first (although if they hit Braunie with two outs in the 1st tonight I guarantee the mound will be charged).

 

But back to the initial question--no, I still don't see it being the factor that magically improves the pitching situation (although I liked the Prince/Parra comparison).

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Tough part for the Brewers is there will be warnings before the game. If Looper hits someone right away he will get tossed and our pen has nobody down there in a long role to keep it remotely close. It will have to happen when he's running out of gas in the fourth inning. Hopefully Martin or Manny is up around then, but he'll probably get stuck firing one at Juan Pierre.

[Invader3K]

Maybe they should start McClung or some other reliever. Get the plunking over with and then insert Looper.