Benches Clearing in Milwaukee is a Good Thing

Last night in the Pirates-Brewers game, Milwaukee 2B Rickie Weeks and Pittsburgh SS Ronny Cedeno got into it after a rundown prompting the benches and bullpens to clear. No punches were thrown, no ejections were made, and and the game continued as normal. I think this was a really good thing. Baseball is a game of confrontations, pitcher vs hitter is the most obvious and the biggest part of the game but often we must include manager vs umpire, player vs umpire, and occasionally, player vs player. The baseball field is a place to lay it all on the line, there’s no need to parse words when arguing a call, defending your teammate or doing anything else.

I love that the Pirates and Brewers got into it last night because it shows the type of fire we often miss from these professional ball players. In his new role with the Commissioner’s office, Joe Torre has made a concerted effort to cut down fraternization between players of opposing teams. At first, I thought this was stupid and a waste of time but after giving it some more thought, I think its a pretty good idea. Though there’s a prominent school of thought that believes that in football you get riled up for your opponent but in baseball you stay as even keeled as possible, I like it when teams hate each other. It makes the a little more than just 25 guys who happened to sign contracts with the same club. The energy and enthusiasm that players display when they want to win a  random game in May because of who they’re playing makes games more fun to watch. That’s the draw of rivalries. We can’t get enough of Yankees-Red Sox or Card-Cubs because its almost as much fun to root against the other team as it is to root for yours. When teams get into it like the Pirates and Brewers did last night, it brings that rivalry feel. The players turn it up a notch, the umpires are crisper, the fans are louder and the game is more fun.

Some links:

You’ve got to watch this. This might be the stupidest political ad ever.

Really cool frisbee trick shots.

This movie looks really funny.

I might write about this later but here’s a cool article on Matt Murton’s success in Japan.

Are you kidding me? This can’t be real. This is the coolest thing ever! Why don’t I have one?