Penny-Wallach Argument Is Behind Them

As fights go, it was definitely on the undercard.

On the same hot Florida day Milton Bradley and Jeff Kent skirmished in the clubhouse, pitcher Brad Penny and batting coach Tim Wallach screamed at each other in a corner of the dugout.

Wallach wanted to know why Penny hadn’t hit Florida Marlin slugger Carlos Delgado with a pitch in the fifth inning Saturday as retribution for Kent’s being plunked by Ismael Valdez in the top of the inning.

Delgado hit a home run and Wallach lit into Penny when he reached the dugout. However, Penny had asked Kent if he should retaliate, and Kent said no.

“If I need to do something like that, I ask the player,” Penny said. “I asked Kent and he said don’t do it. Tim didn’t know that.”

Wallach acknowledged that he was unaware that Penny and Kent had talked. By Tuesday, the incident was all but forgotten.

“Tim and I are great friends,” Penny said. “It was a heat-of-the-moment thing and just a misunderstanding.”