OT: Carlos Quentin breaks Zack Greinke's collarbone

[Rhettmatic]

I know this was discussed a bit in the Around the MLB thread but I thought some people might have missed it.

For those who aren't aware, here's Jeff Passan's column (With video of the brawl):

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/dodgers-pa ... 41740.html

The shenanigans started with an ill-advised mound charge. They ended with a superstar's threat: "We'll see, bitch." And in between, a brawl unspooled, a $147 million pitcher broke his collarbone, a manager erupted and a feud unlikely to abate anytime soon mushroomed into the biggest to-do of the young baseball season.

Oh, fertilizer.

There is no shame aping a phrase from the great Vin Scully when it so appropriately describes what happened Thursday night at Petco Park: Los Angeles Dodgers star Zack Greinke broke his left collarbone trying to take on San Diego Padres outfielder/linebacker Carlos Quentin, who charged the mound to extricate years of pent-up frustration over being hit by Greinke twice before.

Video of the incident (may be taken down soon):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2am9v3qozg[/youtube]

Matt Kemp being restrained by Clayton Richard after the game:



And an excellent tweet from the L.A. Dodgers account:

https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/322586892111593472

Morosi advocates here for a one-month suspension:

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/carl ... ers-041213

And Mattingly weighs in:

"He should not play a game until Greinke can pitch," Mattingly said about Quentin. "If he plays before Greinke pitches, something is wrong. Their guys charges the mound being an idiot and our guy is going to be out for however long and their guy is probably going to be playing in three days. It's a joke."

So, how long do you think he should be suspended, and how long do you think he actually will be suspended?

[CapeCrusader]

For the season! I have Greinke on my fantasy team, this going to hurt me.

[Rapsobsessed7]

I think however long Zack is out Carlos should be suspended for.

It wouldn't have happened if he didn't charge the mound. It's pretty stupid if you ask me. Zack wasn't going to bring the tieing run to the plate to hit him. He should be suspended for a long long time.

[Duffman100]

For the season! I have Greinke on my fantasy team, this going to hurt me.

Yeah, same with me. My luck in fantasy pools is brutal.

[BigLeagueChew]

Suspend him 5 or 6 games for charging the mound and being involved in an altercation. it's unfortunate Greinke was hurt but if he wasn't people wouldn't make such a big deal about it. The fact that Greinke is a twig and Quentin is built like a linebacker probably didn't help though.

[Hendrix]

5 games or so, or whatever the standard is here.

I'm sure he didn't intend to break his collar bone, and I don't think it should be based on the freak injury as much as the action itself.

I don't really understand it though. Quinton gets hit by a ton of pitches, so maybe he's just frustrated or something. But, it didn't appear like a situation where Grienke was trying to hit him. And, if you crowd the plate all the time you should probably accept that you're going to get beaned some. Maybe he was doing as kinda a warning/intimidation thing to pitchers around the league so they stop pitching him inside, and let him crowd the plate?

[Rhettmatic]

Jonah Keri with a loooong breakdown of the incident here:

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-trian ... rantland33

Here are his thoughts on how long Quentin should be out:

Should an eye-for-an-eye apply? If Greinke's out until June, should Quentin's suspension last that long, too?

As a process-over-results guy, my answer to that kind of question is always going to be no. What if Quentin never laid a hand on Greinke, only Greinke tripped on a pebble trying to dodge Quentin, suffered the worst ankle injury in baseball history, and never pitched again? Do you kick Quentin out of the big leagues forever? Or what if Greinke doesn't get hurt at all? Does that mean Quentin shouldn't miss any time?

I'm not a fan of pitchers deliberately throwing at hitters (particularly when there's real intent to harm), nor do I like hitters charging the mound, or the fights that ensue. Yes, players need to know they can feel safe doing their job, and that they'll have someone watching their back who's prepared to stand up for them if need be. But there's a lot to be said for jacking a tape-measure homer or striking out the side as retribution, rather than putting your team in a bad spot with the injuries and suspensions that inevitably result from brawls. In absolutely extreme cases, do what you have to do. Other than maybe some grudge-harboring, this did not ring true as an extreme case, or a justified case, for a mound-charging and a brawl.

Quentin should be suspended long enough for it to hurt, maybe matching the length of a 15-day DL stint. And I'll continue to hope that brawls remain very rare, because baseball's a much better game when the best players are playing, not gathering splinters.

[Avenger]

Anyone who is defending this sort of behavior with the usual pathetic fake macho response of " hey sissies, this is who the game is played" can go **** themselves and switch to UFC if you really find a bunch of grown ass men fighting entertaining.

I turn on a baseball game to watch Trout play centerfield or to see Miguel Cabrera hit a bomb to right field and yes to watch a Zack Greinke pitch. I don't care about precedence, i don't care about what the macho culture is in Baseball but anyone who instigates a physical altercation should be treated as harshly as they would for testing positive for PED's.

Baseball could learn a thing or two(like the vastly superior use of technology) from a sport like Cricket where the focus is on the game and the talent on the field and not these useless theatrics.

[rarefind]

Greinke and Kemp on my fantasy team, great.

[rarefind]

Truthfully, the bonehead should be suspended for 1 game retroactive to the return of Greinke. He deliberately injured him, it wasn't accidental at all.

Edit: Only 8 games, bs.

[El Bow]

5 games or so, or whatever the standard is here.

I'm sure he didn't intend to break his collar bone, and I don't think it should be based on the freak injury as much as the action itself.

I don't really understand it though. Quinton gets hit by a ton of pitches, so maybe he's just frustrated or something. But, it didn't appear like a situation where Grienke was trying to hit him. And, if you crowd the plate all the time you should probably accept that you're going to get beaned some. Maybe he was doing as kinda a warning/intimidation thing to pitchers around the league so they stop pitching him inside, and let him crowd the plate?

For sure:

During that span [since 2008], Quentin has been hit by 95 pitches...
Quentin’s rate of being hit by pitches within six inches of the inside corner is 20 times higher than the Major League average. It is, at the minimum, a little hard to have sympathy for the guy.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/carlos-quentins-hbp-zone

[Duffman100]

5 games or so, or whatever the standard is here.

I'm sure he didn't intend to break his collar bone, and I don't think it should be based on the freak injury as much as the action itself.

I don't really understand it though. Quinton gets hit by a ton of pitches, so maybe he's just frustrated or something. But, it didn't appear like a situation where Grienke was trying to hit him. And, if you crowd the plate all the time you should probably accept that you're going to get beaned some. Maybe he was doing as kinda a warning/intimidation thing to pitchers around the league so they stop pitching him inside, and let him crowd the plate?

For sure:

During that span [since 2008], Quentin has been hit by 95 pitches...
Quentin’s rate of being hit by pitches within six inches of the inside corner is 20 times higher than the Major League average. It is, at the minimum, a little hard to have sympathy for the guy.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/carlos-quentins-hbp-zone

Either Quentin is banging a lot of players' wives and he's the most hated player in baseball or he crowds the plate.

[Wo1verine]

SF fans love Quentin right now!

[Schad]

That might be the most solid contact that a Padres hitter will make all season.

[Mak]

if he threw at him on purpose , good job. No suspension.

[Wo1verine]

He's lucky Richard didn't kick his arse right there, ha

When a player goes looking for another for the opposing team , i consider them fake tough guys because they know they will be held back from reaching the said player.

[Rhettmatic]

if he threw at him on purpose , good job. No suspension.

I haven't seen any evidence that was the case -- what makes you think it was intentional?

[Gibby]

if he threw at him on purpose , good job. No suspension.

I haven't seen any evidence that was the case -- what makes you think it was intentional?

The fact that they threw at Kemp's head earlier in the game.

[rarefind]

His stance doesn't give a pitcher a lot of room to miss inside. Greinke's pitch would have hit any right handed batter, but circumstance of the game makes it unlikely he was trying to bean him. You can bet with the amount of games left between these teams, it is going to get ugly.

[Rhettmatic]

if he threw at him on purpose , good job. No suspension.

I haven't seen any evidence that was the case -- what makes you think it was intentional?

The fact that they threw at Kemp's head earlier in the game.

I guess, but given the circumstances of the game it would be really, really weird for Greinke to choose to hit him there.