Here are the facts: On June 6th, Josh Donaldson plays a hard ground ball hit by Adam Jones and instead of opting to throw for the force out at first base, Donaldson waits and tags Manny Machado heading to third base for the third and final out. Machado tries to evade it, but loses his balance and throws his helmet on the way to the ground (which can already be an ejectable offence under rule 9.01d), after which he starts yelling at Donaldson and both benches clear. Then, in the 6th inning, Wei-Yin Chen hits Donaldson on a pitch up and inside, after which Donaldson yells something at his dugout before taking first base.
Then on June 8th, Machado hits Derek Norris two times with his follow-through in separate innings, the second time knocked Norris out of the game. Then in the 8th with the A’s up ten runs, Fernando Abad throws a pitch down and in to Machado, the second time it happened that game, and brushes him off the plate. Machado swings at the second pitch, during which the bat flies from his hands and lands behind third base. Machado stares downing Abad and starts yelling, and then the benches clear again. Machado and Abad were then ejected.
First and foremost, I’d like to say Machado is very much in the wrong in this situation. What he did was very hot headed and very much inexcusable. I’d also like to point out the A’s are in the wrong as well, Donaldson taking the hit-by-pitch personal, Norris claiming Machado’s back swing was intentional, and Abad throwing at Machado’s knee are very child-like.
I call this an overreaction because no one actually looks past what happened and people are coming out of the woodworks and calling Machado the anti-christ (well, maybe not that far, but you get the point). I’m not trying to say Machado is innocent and the A’s are the bad guys, I just believe he is being tremendously over criticized and the A’s aren’t being criticized enough.
First off, Machado’s backswing/follow-through is one of the longest I’ve seen in baseball. Don’t believe me? Look.
From what else I’ve seen, it seems like the lower the pitch is, the farther the bat drops on the backend. Buck even said to the media today that, “I think Manny’s had six or seven of those this year. Obviously, they’re not intentional, It’s just the way he swings.” Norris then goes on to say that he thinks he saw Machado smirking after the second time, let’s look:
Okay, he is smiling, but wait a couple seconds longer.
It looks like Adam Jones was talking to him the whole time and Jones is one the biggest jokesters in the clubhouse. This looks like it explains itself, unless you want to start villianizing Jones as well. Then, Norris talks about how Machado didn’t say anything afterwards, like “sorry” or “are you ok?” To be a stick in the mud, he really doesn’t have to say anything. It doesn’t prove that it was intentional and Machado explained to Britt Ghiroli that “…his back swings was unintentional and he felt remorse but didn’t think Oakland —given the situation— would think he was sincere.”
Next, Donaldson tagging Machado at third in the first game. While I do believe Machado overreacted, Donaldson went out of his way to tag him. If you re-watch the video, Donaldson is playing fairly deep and with his arm, it would be easier just to throw to first, especially since the ball was hard hit. I believe Machado’s outburst comes from the sensitivity over his knee; Donaldson makes him make a move to avoid the tag and that it putting an unneeded risk on that knee. This is me just rationalizing as Machado has not said much on that specific instance. This one is completely up for debate and it does not favor Machado.
Now, Chen ‘throwing at’ Donaldson in the first game. General Manager Dan Duquette clarified this on The Norris and Davis Show on Monday. Donaldson hit a home run in the first inning lunging over the plate, look:
His third at-bat is when he was hit, his second at-bat was a fly out to Centerfield, and this is what Duquette said, “We threw inside on Donaldson because he reached out over the plate the first time up against Chen and put the ball in the left field bleachers. So we went inside to get him off the plate and after that we were able to get him out. We didn’t go inside to hit him.” So, while Donaldson’s third at-bat looks bad by itself, if you add his previous two at-bats it’s just Chen pitching inside as a strategy, not to send a message.
Finally, the meat of this whole debacle, Machado throwing the bat. In no way do I think Machado is innocent, it doesn’t matter if the A’s baited him or not, he took the bait. But the A’s did in fact bait him, Abad threw at his knee and that’s almost as bad as what Machado did. You would have to have been living under a rock to not know Machado is coming off major knee surgery. If you want to send a message to someone, you throw at their upper body; if you throw at the legs, you’re trying to hurt someone. Duquette summed up how I feel about this situation on The Derek and Norris Show, “not going to condone that action — I don’t think there’s a place for that.” He then added, “When someone’s trying to take your livelihood by throwing a baseball at you, not once but twice, I think that’s a natural reaction to protect yourself.” And the fact of the matter is that if the A’s don’t throw at Machado, this is a non-story. Don’t act upset when you can’t take someone’s retaliation, it doesn’t matter who started it, if you don’t think you can take it, don’t retaliate back.
The A’s are not innocent in this situation at all. It is sickening to see the A’s and baseball fans as a whole act like Machado was the only one in the wrong and the A’s have their hands sparkling clean. The national media is even gunning for Machado, ESPN’s Sweetspot ran an article titled ‘Machado must be suspended’ with no mention of the wrongdoing on A’s part or looking more into the situation somewhere near the level I did above. If Abad does not get a suspension and Machado does, the MLB should be ashamed of itself and I will be sure to show my discontent.
I’m going to repeat myself, I’m not trying to say Machado is innocent and the A’s are the bad guys, I just believe he is being tremendously over criticized and the A’s aren’t being criticized enough. But the few things I took away from this have enlightened me, and I hope they do the same with you. Most baseball players are giant crybabies and hive mentalities are frightening.
Norris said he didn’t think the swings were on purpose. But guess getting facts straight wouldn’t help your little lets attack the A’s piece.
Donaldson got threw at by his head. Then he got hit after that. All he does his look at his own dugout and you blame him. So much reaching
You’re not a very good journalist.
Cody you are a freakin horrible journalist, because you dont have your facts straight at all. The way you recall what happened, is not what actually happened. Just horrible!!
Tee, Billy, and Mike, your mom called, you were supposed to be home when the street lights came on.
Cody, you look like a nice kid and I think it’s terrific that you spend your time writing about your passions. I know you are a big Oriels fan, but if you write super slanted articles that aren’t really factual, then people will only read you one time, but never again because it is boring to read a fictitious recount of an event… it doesn’t entertain or educate anyone if you write imaginary facts. For example: you showed a pic of Donaldson and claimed he was “lunging over the plate”, and this was your key argument why he was thrown at inside. LOOK at that picture. He is in NO WAY lunging or even crowding the plate. Furthermore they threw at his dome which is taboo. Your article should have centered around Manny Machado was embarrassed that he stumbled over his own feet trying to avoid a tag, and in typical fashion for an immature egotist, he is too insecure to make fun of himself and instead chooses to blame someone else or deflect from himself in a situation like that. Machado’s behavior on base path, his lack of class in not apologizing for hitting Norris and his ridiculous throwing of the bat not only destroyed his own image, but it makes his entire team look bad for not having him “in check.” We all love baseball, and Machado is a rotten immature individual who needs veteran teammate “direction” (Read: three older players need to pull him aside and let him know they don’t want to be associated with his jackass behavior so he needs to knock it off)
The most important point I made was that it is terrific that a young kid like you is so dedicated to something you are passionate about. Just work on making LEGITIMATE points.
Pety Z, did you even watch the Friday night game? Donaldson crowds the plate consistently, and after driving one into the seats, Chen is more than entitled to throw inside. True to the nature of MLB hitters, Donaldson takes offense to this action; the ball grazes his elbow, which is nowhere near his “dome”. It would be interesting to see how his HBP plays out over the full year, as he crowds the plate all the time.
Rather than criticize the author’s article & dismiss his points of view as ” a fictitious recount of an event… it doesn’t entertain or educate anyone if you write imaginary facts.”, trying writing your own take. Disagree, if you like, but don’t merely put down someone for expressing an opinion you don’t agree with.
It will be interesting to see how the series in Oakland plays out later in the year…
Haha. Last guy first (ferdinand212): hey Einstein, in the world of online names, often there are several people with the same name so the easiest/simplest/smartest way to get your own I.D. to login is to add a “y”…. hence Pete to Petey… or we could follow your idea and write the sums of Four times our I.Q.’s after our names (212 ÷ 4 = 53… yep, figured out your formula).
Robert Rogers… you think it’s the job of the media to “CREATE A STORY?”. Your handle should be Robert Rogers112 because sir, Youze iz a dummay!! In fact too dumb to educate.
Melbay Melbay Melbay, Yes I watched game Friday night. First of all the article says “(Dinaldson’s) …lunging over the plate, look:” and then there’s a pic of it. LOOK!! I did. NO Lunging there.
My point in writing anything was to encourage a kid who seems to be maybe 15 years old to continue to follow his passion for writing. Secondly it was to give him a constructive tip or two.
I don’t feel the need to give my take, this is Cody’s domain. If I did feel the need, I would mention that J.D. made great smart pkay tagging Machado. Machado is insecure and therefore when he stumbled he blamed J.D. for tagging aggressively when he absolutely did not. Machado had ineffective parenting growing up. What an embarassment he is. His behavior is disgusting. Oakland is All class. Oakland is a much better team than Baltimore and watching them sweep the Oriels later this season will be satisfying for all people who root for “the good guys.”
Petey, I bet you are the coolest kid in your skateboard park.
Is that an insult? I don’t understand how a cool kid who skateboards is an insult. I am not very cool and I don’t skateboard… and I’m not a child, obviously. I write at a level too high for you to compete. You shouldnt try son. Besides, all I did was write encouraging words to a youngster passionate about sports. Well, I gave him a couple suggestions to improve his writing. In case you are too dense to ascertain from reading what I’ve written, I am brilliant and a professional writer. I’m done with you. Have a good life. (Think of more clever insults so people laugh)
Skateboard Petey, the “professional writer” who uses contractions throughout his writing. Yes, “I’VE” noticed. “I’M” sure your professional writing school would approve. “I’M” done criticizing. Grab your Highlights magazine and get some more gooder writin’ tips.
You people are selfish , don’t put someone’s article down without giving constructive criticism that they can actually use . As for the article I thought it was a fun take on it , the job of the media is to create a story , this did just that . So for everyone bashing it , simply put … Go fuck yourselves .
Why do you guys waste time writing back to guys named “Tee”, “Billy” and “Petey”? Their mamas just got finished making them Spaghetti-o’s and your taking the time to write back to them? Keep doin what you’re doin Cody.
Don’t say words like “fuck” on here, we know how kids pick up on words easily and Billy and Petey might end up getting their mouths washed with soup if their mommy’s hearing them using such foul language…
Soap* Damn auto spell
and I bet ferdinand212 is the coolest middle aged adult who works at Burger King and lives in his mom’s basement. “HEY MOM, CAN WE GET SOME MEATLOAF?!?”
I am the middle aged man in YOUR mom’s basement.