Was Nyjer Morgan really wrong for stealing two bases after being hit?

In an act of retaliation for Washington Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan separating the shoulder of Florida Marlins catcher Brett Hayes on Tuesday and then stealing two bases while down eleven runs last night, pitcher Chris Volstad threw behind Morgan which ignited a brawl that almost saw Morgan get his head taken off by Gaby Sanchez.

During the commentary, the announcers remarked that Morgan was wrong for stealing two bases while his team was down 11 runs in the 4th inning. I disagree with the commentators in this case. If Morgan can himself into scoring position after being purposely hit by the opposing pitcher, why not do it? There was plenty of baseball to be played in that game and if he could help creep the Nationals towards closing the gap by getting into scoring position, then he should do it. Morgan later scored on a sacrifice fly. The game ended with the Marlins winning 16-10, but how many of us have seen games that appeared to be a blowout and were decided by one run?

Leave a comment if you think Morgan was right or wrong for stealing those two bases after getting hit.

Read More

Jose Offerman throws a punch at an umpire

ESPN.com reports that Jose Offerman threw a punch at an umpire during a Dominican winter league game Saturday night, the second time in 2½ years he has assaulted someone on a baseball field.

Offerman, who is the manager of the Licey Tigers, took a swing at the first base umpire during a heated exchange in the game against the Cibao Giants. Offerman came out onto the field after Ronny Paulino was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. He went to argue with the home plate umpire, but got entangled with the first base umpire Daniel Rayburn instead.

Offerman's previous fighting incident on the field occurred during the 2007 season when he was a member of the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League. During the August 14, 2007 game against the Bridgeport Bluefish, pitcher Matt Beech hit him with a fastball. Offerman charged the mound with his bat and swung at least twice, striking Beech and Bluefish catcher John Nathans.

In February 2009, Nathans sued Offerman in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport, seeking $4.8 million in damages. Nathans said the attack left him with permanent, career-ending injuries.

Read More

How Willie Mays and Ruben Gomez slugged it out in Puerto Rico

Willie Mays and Ruben Gomez were not only teammates on the New York Giants from 1954-58, but were teammates on arguably the greatest winter team ever assembled, the 1954-55 Santurce Crabbers. Both were integral players on a team that would run away with the 1955 Carribbean Series championship. Mays anchored an outfield which included Roberto Clemente and Bob Thurman.

Gomez chiefed a staff which included "Sad" Sam Jones, Luis Arroyo and Bill Greason. With their infield including George Crowe, Ron Samford, Don Zimmer and Bus Clarkson, many experts have said that this team could hang with any of the great teams in baseball history.

Willie Mays and Ruben Gomez in Santurce

As wonderful as the team played, things were not harmonious between two of it's biggest stars, Gomez and Mays. Before a January exhibition game. Gomez and Mays engaged in a scuffle over a turn in batting practice. According to an Associated Press report, Santurce club president Pedrin Zorilla described the events as followed.

"Gomez started kidding Roberto Clemente, his teammates who was having  his swings," Zorillia recalled. "Gomez said he wanted to get in a couple of swings but batting practice pitcher Milton Ralat said Clemente wasn't through yet. Gomez still kidding, sat on home plate. Mays was behind the cage, watching the horseplay, and stepped out to ask Ralat to pitch to him while the other two decided their argument. ... Finally, Ralat threw some slow ones to Mays. He hit one directly at Ralat, knocking off his glove. Ralat got mad and said something like, 'What are you trying to do, kill me?'

"That led to arguing between Ralat and Mays and finally got to blows. Gomez tried to intervene to halt it. Mays apparently mistook Gomez' intentions and gave him a shove. Gomez, unexpecting it, went down."

Many other reports have Gomez going down as a result of one of Mays punches. Damage control quickly ensued and the two squashed their beef. The Associated Press reported that Gomez said, "There's nothing to it. We both consider the case closed and are good friends."

Mays went on to deny the fight.

"We want to make clear there was no fight and you can say without reservation that there is no difficulty between Gomez and myself."

Days after the incident, the Victoria Advocate reported that Mays left the Santurce team as a result of the fight. Mays told the International News Service that he was leaving Puerto Rico because, "it was just too much." He cited the 154 games he played with the Giants and the additional 62 games with Santurce as, "taking too much" and "not being fair to the Giants."

Mays left Puerto Rico and returned two weeks later for the playoffs. Mays went hitless in his first 13 at-bats in the series, until he hit a two-out, two-run walk-off homer in the 11th inning of Game Six. He then went 11-for-13 in the next three games to finish with a .462 average (12-for-26) and leading the series in RBIs.

Read More