I've seen a lot intentional throws at players throughout my baseball watching "career," but for some reason, this throw just seems to be even more cowardly then any other. Indians pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez intentionally threw at Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki the other day in a Spring Training game at Salt River Fields. The pitch hit Tulo square in the back with a pitch that ended in a benches clearing incident. When looking at it, Jimenez states that Tulowitzki is a a good hitter, he was trying to get the ball inside, and it got away from him when he was releasing it. But if that were true Ubaldo, then why did you immediately look at the plate, then throw your glove down looking for a fight? In my opinion, and obviously in MLB's opinion, the pitch was intentional because Jimenez has been suspended for 5 games for the incident. Just look at the body language of the situation, Jimenez was looking to start something. Many will say that Ubaldo Jimenez still resents the fact that Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez received large contract extensions last year and he did not, which is why he went to the Indians. Jimenez was their best pitcher at the time, so why not lock him up until 2017 like they did with the other two? The fact is that many Rockies stated that Ubaldo's body language was no longer with the team in 2011, and he was just waiting to be moved to another team. In his mind, Cleveland was a Godsend. I don't know why anyone would think that, but I guess that's just how baseball works. Indians manager Manny Acta is furious with Major League Baseball for their decision to suspend Jimenez for 5 games, but he is happy that there will be an appeal. With the appeal going through, that means that Ubaldo Jimenez will be able to start on Saturday versus the Blue Jays. In my mind, I just keep thinking about how stupid Ubaldo looks right now, everyone saw him throw down his glove and look for a fight, challenging Tulowitzki to come at him. Grow up Ubaldo Jimenez.
This is a fantastic analysis of the situation. Jimenez clearly intended to do harm to Tulowitzki, but I don't know how to feel about the entire suspension. Would you say it was merited? As a professional athlete, he is supposed to be a model person, yet he went out of his to inflict pain. Ironic?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your input and that you for reading! I would say that suspension is merited because if not, then any time one pitcher has a grudge against another player, he can beam him and possibly cause harm to him. You are 100% right by that he is a professional athlete and is supposed to be a model citizen, which is another reason why suspensions matter. Without them, players would do what they please, which includes performance enhancing drugs.
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