Brawl Fallout: Games, Fines

The biggest blow in the ongoing fracas between the Angels and Texas Rangers may have been landed by the commissioner’s office, which suspended and fined 10 members of the organizations a combined 31 games Thursday for their roles in several incidents over the previous two days.

As far as the Angels were concerned, the hit batsmen and benches-clearing brawl might have been avoided had Bob Watson, baseball’s vice president for on-field operations, landed a preemptive strike on Rangers pitcher Adam Eaton for his role as a catalyst.

Eaton threw a pitch behind the back of Angels slugger Juan Rivera on Aug. 6, one day after Rivera had hit a three-run homer and one batter after Garret Anderson had hit another three-run homer. Eaton was ejected and eventually fined but not suspended, providing what Angels Manager Mike Scioscia described as a “free rein” for Rangers pitcher Vicente Padilla to throw at Angels hitters on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas.

“It could have been curtailed and should have been curtailed by Major League Baseball if they had acted consistently with a guy like Eaton not only throwing behind one of our hitters but [saying] in the paper that [he didn’t] care if he hit him or not and the blatant disregard for what this game is about,” a visibly agitated Scioscia said Thursday.

Instead of being curtailed, the conflict escalated, and the fallout was severe.

Angels relievers Brendan Donnelly and Kevin Gregg were suspended four games apiece for allegedly intentionally throwing at batters Wednesday after previous plunkings of Rivera and Vladimir Guerrero. Adam Kennedy, who ignited a ninth-inning brawl when he charged the mound after being hit by a pitch, also was suspended four games.

Several Rangers players faced even stiffer penalties. Scott Feldman, the reliever who hit Kennedy, was suspended six games, and Padilla, who had hit Rivera and Guerrero on Tuesday, was suspended five games.

Scioscia and his Rangers counterpart, Buck Showalter, also were suspended, Scioscia for three games and Showalter for four. Angels bench coach Ron Roenicke, acting as manager Wednesday following Scioscia’s ejection, was suspended one game, and pitcher John Lackey and Rivera were fined an undisclosed amount for their roles in the ninth-inning fight.

Donnelly, who denied intentionally hitting Freddy Guzman in the eighth inning Wednesday, was the only player on either team to immediately say he would appeal his suspension.

The Angels played the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night at Angel Stadium without Kennedy, Gregg and Scioscia, who began serving their suspensions. Roenicke, who will serve his suspension Sunday, directed the Angels’ offense, and Bud Black managed the pitchers.

The timing of the suspensions of Gregg and Kennedy was somewhat fortuitous for the Angels. Kennedy probably wouldn’t have played much during a stretch in which the Angels face three left-handed starters in four days, and Gregg would have been unavailable for a couple of days after pitching five innings of relief Wednesday.

Donnelly and Gregg continued to insist Thursday that they did not hit anyone intentionally, Gregg noting his penchant for being wild and Donnelly noting that Guzman had just been called up from triple A and was not even in the stadium Tuesday when the two Angels players had been hit.

“You’re going to pitch inside and you’re going to hit people,” Gregg said. “I think I hold the record for wild pitches in an inning. Everybody knows I have a wild one in my game.”

Kennedy denied that there was any rift between Scioscia, who espouses a no-retaliation policy when his players are hit by pitches, and a pitching staff that appeared to be protecting its teammates.

“Scioscia’s speaking from a level head and the good of the team,” Kennedy said. “He’s worried about suspensions, injuries, other things that may come out of it.

“The pitchers, you’ve got to love where their heart’s at. To know when one of our guys is getting abused a little bit [that they will] stand up for him. Both sides have great points, and I think they’re both respected by the other.”