Jobu weighs in on a couple of idiots from the National League West.

As a Yankees fan, I’ve known Ian Kennedy for a long time. The Yankees took him with the 21st overall pick in 2006, and he made his Major League debut not too much longer, in 2008. He’s no longer on the Yankees, as they traded him as part of the three team deal with Detroit that landed the Yankees Curtis Granderson. Frankly, the scene he basically caused on Tuesday night make me glad for that. We certainly can’t discount Greinke’s role, but Kennedy wins.

If you didn’t see or hear about it, Tuesday’s game between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks got a little testy. It started in the fifth inning when Cody Ross got hit by Zack Greinke. It wasn’t even that serious though. Ross almost swung at the ball, which looked like it was closer to the plate than the batter’s box. Although I find Greinke to be a bit of a tool, I didn’t see that as a purposeful hit.

Shortly thereafter, Kennedy threw up and in to Yasiel Puig, hitting him in the shoulder. The ball even ricocheted off the rookie’s mouth. He was down for quite a while, and it was pretty scary. Kennedy seemed annoyed or remorseful about the pitch, as he threw his head up in disgust or concern (not sure) when the ball made contact with Puig. Even if he didn’t throw at Puig on purpose, it was a suspect pitch. It’s not like Kennedy has been a guy with ridiculous control problems in his career.

Greinke, who certainly wasn’t innocent in all of this, hit Diamondbacks clean-up hitter Miguel Montero square in the back his next time up. Benches cleared, but it was a lot of typical angry discussions and very little actual action. That hit alone should probably get Greinke a suspension (although he was not thrown out of the game). I think that pretty much evened up the situation. Ross’ hit-by-pitch is a wash to me, because I really don’t think it was purposeful. Then, when Kennedy hit Puig and Greinke hit Montero, that should have ended the situation right there.

Enter Ian Kennedy, the idiot. When Greinke came up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning, Kennedy wasted no time in almost killing him, sending another pitch up and in that struck Greinke in the upper back and shoulder area. Kennedy was immediately tossed, and an ugly brawl ensued. When I say ugly, I mean it. Guys were getting shoved and hit left and right, as three innings worth of tension exploded onto the field. It was scary. Even the coaches got involved. I saw Dodgers Manager (and hopefully future Yankees Manager) Don Mattingly throw or push someone to the floor. I saw Dodgers hitting coach Mark Mcguire get in a jersey tugging competition with Diamondbacks third base coach Matt Williams. Even Don Baylor got involved!

Anyway, I don’t mean to glorify adults acting like kids, so let’s get to Kennedy. If he was mad about the beaning of Cody Ross, why didn’t he just wait until Greinke came up to bat? Why did he send his message to Yasiel Puig, a guy playing his 9th major league game? What did Puig do to deserve to almost get killed by a 90+ mph heater at his noggin? Then, once he hit Puig, and Greinke hit Montero, why didn’t he just accept the fact that the mini-battle was over? Even Stevens. Thirdly, anyone who knows the hundreds of “un-written” rules of baseball would have been OK with Kennedy hitting Greinke, even though it seemed things were even. A pitcher should be held accountable for his actions. However, you never throw up at someone’s head. Baseball is just a game, everybody. You throw low, at someone’s butt or legs. Hell, maybe even in the lower back. You don’t take chances with other players’ lives. Greinke could have been seriously hurt.

Hopefully Bud Selig hands out a big time suspension to everyone involved in the melee. Greinke should get suspended for throwing at Montero. As we saw when Carlos Quentin broke Greinke’s collarbone, the history of throwing at people is in Greinke’s file. Because he’s already been suspended for throwing at Quentin this season, his should be a bigger suspension than normal. Kennedy, however, should get the book thrown at him. He threw up and in at two guys, nearly cracking them both in the head. The second one came after the issue should have been called even. It was completely unnecessary escalation. I really think he should be suspended for eleven or twelve games, because he should miss two starts, not the customary one start that comes with a normal six game suspension.

We’ll see what the league rules. In the meantime, watch the video.

Featured image courtesy of: USA Today Sports