For anyone unfamiliar with what I’m talking about, Detroit and the Cleveland Indians had a little matinee game on Thursday. Cleveland was going for an American League record 21st straight victory. The Tigers were trying to avoid getting swept by the Indians...again.With Cleveland already up 3-1 in the bottom of the third, Tiger starting pitcher Buck Farmer walked Cleveland’s Jay Bruce on a very close 3-2 pitch. Bruce had already hit a 3-run homer off Farmer in the bottom of the first, so naturally he was going to be pitched around the next time through the lineup.
Farmer’s pitch landed in roughly the same spot as where Cleveland’s Mike Clevinger rung up the Tigers’ Jeimer Candelario in the top-half of the frame. Clevinger got the call...Farmer didn’t. That did not sit well with Tiger catcher James McCann, who turned and had a few choice words with home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott. Tiger manager Brad Ausmus--a former catcher in his playing days--came out to try and settle things down. Wolcott gave the hook to McCann, and followed with Ausmus a few moments later. Ausmus was picked up by the on-field mics as saying “I just want the same strike zone for both teams,” before his early exit.
Ausmus decided to send McCann off, and continued to jaw with Wolcott for a few extra moments. McCann was replaced with utility infielder John Hicks. The coolest head in the Detroit lineup to this point was Farmer--the one guy who should have blown his lid first. Farmer’s first pitch to the Indians’ Yandy Diaz was a bit inside.
The story is less about Farmer missing with the pitch, as he had little control of his fastball to that point, but more so the pitch striking Wolcott in the shoulder. Diaz stepped out of the batter’s box as the Indians’ training staff tended to Wolcott, who was knocked over by the pitch. Wolcott would stay in the game.
Normally when a pitcher hits a batter with something that got away, there is some level of concern or visual remorse that would resemble an apology. Here, Hicks simply trotted out to the mound to have a chat with Farmer--whose demeanor never changed from the moment he walked Bruce. Hicks made no movement towards Wolcott as well. If you have seen the replay, Hicks’ extends his glove as if the ball is going to brush Diaz’s uniform...a full foot away from where the pitch actually ended up. Yes Hicks reacted that the pitch was inside, but the reaction was obviously late. Indians’ TV broadcasters Matt Underwood and Rick Manning expressed the possibility that the pitch may have been intentional the more they look at it in slow motion. Ausmus was furious after the game when the idea was relayed to him by the media.
We saw the Calgary Flames’ Dennis Wideman be fined $500K for hitting an official during an NHL game in January 2016. There’s a Youtube video of a girls’ softball team catcher getting out of the way of a fastball as retaliation for calls that did not go their way, striking a home plate umpire. I believe we all saw the video of two Texas high school football players blindside a ref during a game.
Ausmus may be furious with the insinuation, but he’s not as good an actor as Jack Nicholson. See, when “Colonel Jessup” ordered the “code red,” he owned up to it. Ausmus may have sent to the showers, but he certainly made sure his presence was still in the Detroit dugout after being tossed.
-JC24