Last night, Philadelphia Phillies pitching ace Cole Hamels intentionally beaned Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper in the small of the back with the first pitch he threw to the 19 year-old.
Amazingly, after the game Hamels admitted to targeting the 93-mph fastball directly at Harper as a "welcome to the big leagues."
Harper suffered no serious injury and took first base immediately upon being hit by the pitch. Later in the inning after advancing to third base, Harper returned the favor and played a joke of his own on Hamels, by successfully stealing home and scoring a run after Hamels attempted to check a runner at first base.
After Harper paid Hamels back his way, Major League Baseball still had to weigh in on the incident. In response to Hamels' post-game admission, MLB issued a 5-game suspension to the pitcher for intentionally throwing at the rookie.
You seldom see a base runner steal home plate in the majors - this video from ESPN breaks down the play perfectly.
"I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that motherf*cker is still here."
- From Ozzie Guillen, manager of baseball's Miami Marlins, who was suspended for 5 games by the team for comments he made about Fidel Castro during a recent media interview.
You don't need a PhD in cultural anthropology to know that Fidel Castro is literally the worst person for whom you could announce your "respect" in the Miami metropolitan area. Praising the Cuban dictator's longevity in South Florida is about as popular a move as admiring Rick Santorum's unyielding social conservatism in San Francisco's Castro district.
Guillen has a long history of saying all the wrong things. In fact, the Marlins manager prides himself on bluntly speaking his mind, seldom apologizing to people or groups he offends, and even bragging once to interviewer Bryant Gumbel that he "likes trouble."
It's hard to say whether Guillen's Castro remark outshines his previous controversial best. In 2006, during his tenure as manager of the Chicago White Sox, Guillen referred to a Chicago sportswriter he disliked as a "fag." Given the overwhelming unpopularity of Castro among South Florida's plentiful Cuban baseball fans, versus the unpopularity of the word "fag" among an unknown number of pro-gay Chicago baseball fans, I'd have to say the Castro comment tops Guillen's list.
You can find some of Guillen's less controversial quotes here.
Detroit Lions star defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh is facing suspension for his Thanksgiving Day attempt at stomping on an opposing player after holding him down by pinning his helmet to the ground.
Suh, who has already been fined over $40,000 since last year may face another fine from the Lions of up to $25,000, and the NFL is likely to suspend him for at least two games. With a per game salary in excess of $80,000, the suspension will impact Suh far more than the fine.
The NFL will determine and announce the specific extent of Suh's punishment this week, but I believe he should be suspended for the remainder of the year. Clearly, prior fines (and a one-on-one meeting arranged a month ago between Suh and the commissioner of the NFL) have been inadequate in clarifying the rules of the game to him.
This is more than a misunderstanding - Suh is a dirty player, and based on his post-game remarks Thursday, he really doesn't care. Amazingly, the video of his embarrassingly unapologetic press conference is still posted on the Detroit Lions website. In his comments, Suh apologizes to his "true fans" (whatever that means), and then attempts to explain that he was simply trying to remove himself from the situation (I suppose a sharp kick is necessary to remove yourself from the guy whose head you are mashing into the turf).
Lions defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh "removing" himself
I don' think the stomp itself was egregious enough to warrant suspension for the remainder of the year, but in light of Suh's prior dirty play issues, and his utter lack of remorse or even recognition of the impropriety of his actions, I think a severe penalty is in order. Suspension for the remainder of the year would not only provide the two-by-four-to-the-forehead lesson that Suh apparently needs, but it would also send a message to NFL teams around the league to take more responsibility for holding their players accountable.
In his downtime for the rest of the season, perhaps someone could walk Ndamukong Suh down the career track of Albert Haynesworth, whose famous headstomp, slovenly work ethic, and apparent honeybun habit have led to him being tossed around the league like an overweight and unwanted rotten potato.
