The brawlin' Seattle Mariners

[Missy Vixen]

Unfortunately, I have no PICTURES, but we just had what was described as a "fracas".

Mr. Blanton was sent to the locker room. Unfortunately, one of the Mariners was as well. Mr. Blanton shoved Ichiro Suzuki for no apparent reason. One of Ichiro's teammates took exception to that.

In the meantime, we're up 6-3, which I'm sure did not improve the disposition of the A's.

PLAY BALL!
Julie

[opiate69]

1. Yeah.. was listening to that on Komo.. what a class act that Blanton jackass is, eh?

[Missy Vixen]

2. Thought he'd pick on the smaller Ichiro

Little did he know that Ichiro's teammates don't care for that ;-).

Julie

p.s. I thought it was sweet that Ellison wanted to defend Ichiro.

[SeattleGirl]

3. I hope Blanton gets suspended a couple of games for that crap.

Ichiro didn't even know the ball was there, and from the camera angle, it was actually a little behind him. Blanton could have just picked up the ball, but NOOOOOOOOO. He had to be a jackass. He just gave up 3 runs, and was pissed off. I'm glad Ellison took up for Ichiro, but I did get a bit nervous when Mac got in the mix, with his shoulder still on the mend.

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. W00t! Baseball fight!

:bounce:



Uh... someone care to explain what happened? :shrug:

[SeattleGirl]

5. I'll give it a shot.

Mariners had the bases loaded, and our batter (can't remember now who it was) hit one in the gap between left and center field. Guys started scoring, and when Lopez crossed home plate (at about the same time as the ball), he kicked the ball toward the Mariner's dugout. Ichiro and Ellison were standing there waiting to congratulate Lopez. The ball ended up just behind Ichiro, who didn't see it because he was looking at Lopez.

Blanton had gone over to that area to get the ball, and instead of reaching down and picking it up, he shoved Ichiro hard. Ellison didn't much like that, so he came after Blanton (the jackass). Benches cleared, and it took awhile to settle things down. Blanton was sent to the dugout, but came back out onto the field. Wouldn't shut his freaking trap. I think he finally went into the clubhouse.

Just a little excitement on a Sunday afternoon.

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. Hmmm

I dunno the rule on that, and I'm too lazy to look it up, but it seems to me Blanton was within his rights if Suzuki was impeding him in getting to the ball. I didn't see it, so I can't tell.

That's assuming the ball was still in play. Since it was kicked, an ump could've ruled that it was intentional and called the runner out, which might stop play. (It would if it happened between bases.)

[opiate69]

6. OK..

M's had the bases loaded.. Raul Ibanez hits a drive to the gap.. outfielder throws in to home (or the cut-off guy does.. not sure... no tv).. the throw is off target and hits a Mariner who just scored and comes to rest kinda near Ichiro (who also had just scored).. Blanton (the A's pitcher) shoves Ichiro out of the way, (ostensibly to pick up the ball) then doesn't bother to pick up the ball, just stands there mean-mugging ichiro.. so, Jason Ellison shoves Blanton.. benches clear, lots of yelling and pointing ensue.... Blanton and the Mariner's pitcher Miguel Batista get ejected.

[Oeditpus Rex]

8. Ah, that clears it up

If Blanton shoved Suzuki and then didn't even pick up the ball, that's horseshit.

[SeattleGirl]

9. Total horseshit. (Sorry I left out the important detail of Blanton

not picking the ball up.)

[Oeditpus Rex]

10. There's still the question of whether the ball was in play

If it was, Blanton isn't just horseshit, he's horseshit and stupid.



Edit: Was, not wasn't. :silly:

[SeattleGirl]

11. I think it was. Lopez didn't intentionally boot the ball; it just got to

the plate at the same time he did, and it was kicked during his slide.

[Shakespeare]

14. The ball was still in play.

Blanton's not stupid or horseshit; the ensuing brawl was inexcusable, but Ichiro was (probably unintentionally) interfering with the play. Blanton said after the game he was so focused on the ball that he didn't even realize who it was he pushed to get to the ball (in other words, he wasn't just going after Ichiro for the hell of it--Ichiro just happened to be between him and the still-in-play ball). The guys in the Seattle dugout started screaming the second Blanton touched Ichiro, which is likely the reason Blanton didn't ultimately retrieve the ball.

It wasn't pretty, but Blanton isn't as evil as has been hinted at in this thread.

[Mojambo]

12. The Mariner clubhouse is as healthy as it has been in years

There have been times when the players would not stick up for each other.

Great to see.

Did you see Felix Hernandez out there acting all of his 21 years of age? He was laughing and mocking Blanton the whole time. Pretty funny stuff. It really did seem to get under Blanton's skin.

[SeattleGirl]

13. I saw that.

:rofl:

Blanton seems to be one of those people who can dish it out but can't take it.