Suspended animation
On the bright side, it keeps him out of left field, right?
Still, if you listen to some of the talk around town this week as it pertains to one Kevin Youkilis, the word “selfish” seems to come up more often than not. After all, the suspended Red Sox Gold Glove first baseman-challenged left fielder cost Boston his presence for five games after his Tuesday night charge of Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello
In the middle of a pennant race? Oh, l’horreur.
It’s not like that’s going to kill the Red Sox in their quest for the wild card (yes, we’re conceding). After all, Youkilis’ absence just gives Terry Francona the ability to easily slot Victor Martinez in the lineup every night. Right, Terry?
Is this the point where I should point out that Adam LaRoche is hitting only .371 with three home runs and a 1.122 OPS for the Atlanta Braves? No? Casey Kotchman? OK, fine then.
Anyway, back to Youkilis, who will be gone through the weekend after getting suspended five games by Major League Baseball for instigating Tuesday’s brawl at Fenway Park. The Sox, by the way, won the game, a feat they accomplished last night as well despite Francona’s keen maneuverability, keeping his prized trade deadline pickup on the bench. That’s three in a row for the Sox, who only got kicked around and embarrassed over four games last weekend in the Bronx. Or, don’t you recall?
Maybe we put a bit too much into the amount of passion we see from a player or team (even sometimes, idiotically), but the point in this case stands. The Red Sox arrived back in Boston DOA on Monday, sluggish, old, over challenged, you name it. Heck, David Ortiz’s little “situation” was more on-topic than the arms and bats. They needed, as they say, some sort of “spark.”
We’re not saying Youkilis gave it to them, and it could be argued his bat would be the preferred spark in this matter. But we will say this: It certainly didn’t hurt.
Yes, we can sit around and debate the merits of fighting in baseball for days, critique Youkilis’ lame takedown method, or wonder whether Jim Leyland cost his team the series (and possibly even the division) by allegedly ordering his pitcher to retaliate. Youkilis is gone for four more games either for his stupidity or willingness to take one for the team.
Your call. I’m going with the latter.
Mind you, if this was the Yankees, and Youkilis charged Joba Chamberlain, the Globe store would already be selling commemorative prints of the occasion. It would be universally seen as a “statement” from the Sox that they weren’t about to be pushed around anymore. Instead, Youkilis is widely classified as a punk for charging a kid.
Here’s what Keith Law wrote about the whole fracas:
There are two real culprits in this Tigers-Red Sox mess, when a brawl broke out in the bottom of the second. First is Kevin Youkilis, who showed once again that he can’t keep his emotions in check by charging the mound without a moment of hesitation after he was hit by a pitch. Tigers starter Rick Porcello backed off and raised his hands as if to ask why Youkilis was rushing the mound. Those of us in the scouts’ seats had the same reaction. Porcello looked like he was in for a dominant outing, sitting 91-94 with great sinking life, and had a three-run lead.
He had a win in his sights; was he really throwing at Youkilis, or was it another two-seamer that ran too far to his arm side? Youkilis had probably already decided he wanted some pretense for charging the mound (maybe to get Porcello out of the game?) and he should be suspended for acting like a fool.
We’re not so blind as to see some truth in all that. But it’s a little like FOX News; you have to know where to perceive the blend between reality and fantasyland.
The Providence Journal’s Joe McDonald has a great line from Cam Neely’s talk with Red Sox prospects during the organization’s Rookie Development Program last January: “During a bench-clearing brawl, leave your purses in the dugout.” We’re not going to get into the sexist nature of such a remark (been there, done that), but perhaps the general public ought to take a similar view. If Youkilis is deemed foolish, idiotic, or selfish for his part in Tuesday’s brawl, then I suppose the only question is, if not him, then who?
Which other player on these vanilla Red Sox would take matters into his own hands? Former Canadian Jason Bay? Robotic JD Drew? Future Details cover boy Jacoby Ellsbury? Hardly. Aside from perhaps Dustin Pedroia, nobody stepping into the box on any given night would even give thought to retaliating. The situation was growing out of control, and someone had to nip it. Enter Youkilis.
And now, it’s exit Youkilis for four more games in which his team will be forced to play short a man. But this actually makes things easier on Francona in that he won’t have to rotate his three best hitters (Mike Lowell, Martinez, Youkilis) every night. Boy, imagine if he had the nuisance of a LaRoche (two home runs, three runs batted in last night) on his hands as well.
Is this the point where I should point out that Julio Lugo is hitting only .356 with a .984 OPS for the St. Louis Cardinals? I hope so, because frankly I don’t know what to make of it.
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