The MLB Is Back

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder and 2019-20 NL MVP Cody Bellinger warms up before a game. Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

In an early-season matchup between the Dodgers and Astros, Los Angeles’ relief pitcher Joe Kelly was put into the game. He was wild. He threw behind Alex Bregman’s head, but only he knows if this was on purpose. Throwing at someone’s head in baseball is an absolute no-no. If you need to hit someone, it’s the ribs or the back. That ball put Bregman on first. Kelly got a groundout, then another walk. He would’ve hit batter Carlos Correa in the back had Correa not ducked. But this was not intentional. Why? It was a curveball. You do not hit people with curveballs. The idea of hitting someone is to send a message and inflict pain. A 95 mph fastball does that, not a 80 mph curveball. Yet Correa still takes it personally. Kelly struck out Correa later in the at bat with a nasty curveball that made him look like a five year old. As he was walking off of the mound after the strikeout, Kelly shouted at Correa, “Nice swing, (expletive)”! He also made a pouty face at the Houston dugout. This induced a bench clearing brawl and Kelly was suspended eight games for “taunting”. Eight games usually doesn’t sound too bad. But eight games out of sixty is equal to almost 22 games in a full season. Any suspension over 20 games is usually related to PED use, or other egregious rule breaking. Certainly not taunting. Kelly appealed the suspension and it was lowered to 5 games. This still means that the man who threw at the cheaters has now been suspended for longer than any of the cheaters. Let that sink in.

Nothing arose of this until a couple of weeks later outspoken Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, who openly blasted the commissioner and the Astros back when MLB’s investigation was first completed, shared a video on social media showcasing the cleats he was planning to wear for his start that night. On one cleat was a drawing of Kelly making the pouty face, and on the other was a message written in bold red letters: Free Joe Kelly. Bauer was informed by the MLB that if he wore the cleats that night he would be ejected, suspended, and fined. So Bauer strapped on a pair of black Nikes and threw a one-hit shutout. After the game Bauer was not happy that the MLB would not let him wear the cleats, saying that nothing in the rules says he couldn’t wear them. MLB’s cleat rule states, “Player’s cleats may contain writings, illustrations, and messages”. These cleats do have to be submitted to the MLB for approval, which Bauer did. He is upset that they were not approved since they were within the regulations that the league had given the players. 

The Astros taunting didn’t stop there. After the San Diego Padres swept the Astros, two Padres fans waited for the Astros team bus to leave the stadium. As it was exiting, the two fans started sweeping the street with brooms. This caused one Astros player to comment on Instagram, “If you’re a baseball fan don’t be these guys”. Well if you’re a baseball player, don’t cheat.

Before that, the Astros played the Oakland Athletics. During batting practice before the first game of the series, a banner was flown over the Oakland Coliseum. The banner read, “Houston Asterisks”. Short and sweet. 

For the last half of the season you can be rest assured there will be more Astros taunting, more close division fights for the last playoff spot, more home runs, more flashy web gems, and more entertaining baseball.

And after all of that, I’m sure we are all looking forward to what the playoffs have in store for us.

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