Charlton Meant to Hit Scioscia : Reds: Pitcher says he hit Dodger catcher with fastball because he believed he was stealing signs while on base.

The Dodgers were promising revenge and their manager was calling for a suspension after Norm Charlton of the Cincinnati Reds was quoted Tuesday as saying he had intentionally hit Mike Scioscia with a pitch Monday night.

Charlton said he had hit Scioscia in the hand with a fastball in the sixth inning because he believed Scioscia was stealing signs during the Dodgers’ 10-4 victory.

“I threw at him,” Charlton in said in the Cincinnati Post story. “I hit him on the arm, but I didn’t mean to hit him on the arm. He’ll be lucky if I don’t rip his head off the next time.”

Charlton said he believed Scioscia was stealing the signs from catcher Jeff Reed when Scioscia was on second base. According to Charlton, Scioscia then used his body to relay the sign to the batter.

“That’s not the way you play the game,” Charlton said. “If he wants to steal signs when somebody else is pitching and they don’t have the guts to correct it, that’s fine. But it’s not going to happen when I’m out there.”

Fred Claire, Dodger vice president, called National League President Bill White to complain about the quotes.

“(Charlton) was totally out of line,” Claire said. “I feel this needs to be addressed by the league office.”

White, who was unavailable for comment, was recently criticized for giving Cincinnati pitcher Rob Dibble a minimal fine after Dibble had fielded a ball and thrown it at the Chicago Cubs’ Doug Dascenzo July 23 after Dascenzo had executed a squeeze bunt.

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda was not as diplomatic as Claire.

“(Charlton) should be suspended,” Lasorda said. “What he said was a disgrace to baseball. Who does he think he is, saying something like that?

“He talks about taking a guy’s head off? He could have killed Scioscia. He could have taken out his eye. Just what kind of person is this guy?”

The Dodger players were equally angry.

“Stupid. Dumb, Idiotic,” said pitcher Kevin Gross of Charlton’s comments.

“I’ve never seen anybody say something like that and get away with it. Maybe the guys on this team won’t do anything (in retaliation) now, but they won’t forget it.

“I know I won’t forget it. If I’m out there on the mound and the situation comes up--I don’t know what is going to happen.”

Said Darryl Strawberry: “It really is sad, a pitcher from a team that is down trying to make excuses and stir things up.”

Scioscia, who denied stealing signs, showed no outward signs of anger about the quotes.

“(Charlton) said it, it’s his problem, not mine,” Scioscia said.

Retaliation by the Dodgers this season is not likely, some said, because a brawl could affect their championship hopes.

“If we get into an altercation, it will be real ugly, there could be injuries and suspensions, and that would be no good for anybody,” Strawberry said.

Charlton would not expand on his comments Tuesday.

Lou Piniella, the Reds’ manager, said: “You can’t condone (Charlton’s behavior). It’s just a foolish statement.

“I think people tend to learn from their mistakes. If I were a pitcher and I hit somebody for whatever reason, I think I’d have about eight reasons why I wasn’t throwing at somebody.

“Now you have to live with the consequences. Being truthful is one thing. Being smart is another.”