The Pirates are also usually among the league leaders in getting hit; and do you know what they do when they get hit? They take their damn base. The Reds threw a ball up around Marte's head in the 6th inning and nobody from the Pirates said a word. What did you think when Aroldis Chapman was constantly buzzing Andrew McCutchen's tower almost every time the Pirates and Reds played when Dusty Baker was managing the Reds? You were probably defending it. Chris Archer didn't even hit Dietrich when he threw the ball behind his ass in the game that got all this started. The Pirates work the inside part of the plate; so they do hit a lot of guys. They have never shied away from the fact they do throw inside; but they are not head hunters.
Upon reading this thread I recalled all the times Cutch was hit by the Reds in particular, seemingly once each game and often multiple times. I watched several games in that era and always wondered why the Pirates didn't retaliate? I did not see a Reds player consistently dusted off much less hit.
Fast forward to today, the brouhaha of last evening. Craziness all around. I'm no Clint Hurdle fan and often, in the past, shouted at the TV screen over his perceived incompetence while my wife wondered, out loud, what the current disaster happened to be. Yet, Mr. Bell exceeds Hurdle. Bell is a can of gasoline actively looking for a match. His demeanor appears to incite his proteges which brings us entertainment as we all witnessed. It's funny in a manner but it is really, really stupid. Yet it has a root and that root is a rivalry, feud and/or disgust for each other that these two teams, long time rivals, have developed to a fine edge that is crossed too easily.
I'll admit I'm a casual, long time Pirate fan but don't allow the sun to rise or set on their performance. I don't become entrenched in discussions about them but for an irregular, odd instance such as yesterday. That said, I do remember a long term history of brewing animosity between the two teams, managerial to player level feud.
MLB has to sort it out. Most of what happened does, at times, happen elsewhere. Bell's sprint from the dog house (after his league leading eights ejection this season) to engage Hurdle (hardly a formidable adversary for a fist fight) was beyond the pale for me. He should be summoned to MLB HQ, have his fingers slapped and then sit out for a long time and empty his cash account into MLB charities at a high level. That was inexcusable as was the Kela pitch, while quite a bit over the head of the Reds batter, still out of line and certainly fanned the flames of the near riot.
The teams will only escalate this as we witnessed. The league will have to step in and fix this in a draconian manner most likely due to the videos making the circuit on today's sports shows fanning the embers. I was surprised at the civility apparently covering today's game. The Reds starter kept this game in check, quite a performance too!
Thank goodness college football is only weeks away and as I type, August is only 30 mins. away. Bring it on.
