It looked like “Try it” or some variation thereof to me. The brawl almost caused a fight at Casa Silenus, because the wife and I had agreed to each root for our teams but not against the other. When Quentin charged the mound that went right out the window and I started agitating for Padre blood.
<cue daydream mode> Quentin charges the mound, but Grienke has been taking martial arts lessons for decades. When the dust clears, there are 4 Padres out cold and out for the season and Grienke dusting off his hands on the mound. <daydream mode off>
Maybe a rule change that says any injuries caused by going after a batter or a pitcher carry a $500,000 fine and a year’s suspension.
I didn’t see the game, but 10 hits in 5 innings, and only giving up 3 runs? Was he great at pitching out of jams, or did lucky breaks keep it from being much worse?
I hate this shit so much. Pitchers “retaliate” over HBPs that were clearly accidental and guys charge the mound at random. I know Greinke and Quentin are supposed to have a little bit of a history, but it seems to me that the whole code is out of whack and you hate to see guys get hurt like this. I think a long suspension is in order here.
If Quentin charges everyone who hits him, he’s going to be quite the pugilist. He sticks his elbow out over the plate and won’t so much as flinch to get out of the way of a pitch.
Yeah, he clearly leaned into the pitch, too, even if it was high and tight. Greinke can’t give away the inside part of the plate because this bush leaguer has been holding a grudge for 5 years, and he knew it. Borderline pre-meditated, considering where he took the pitch, and the response.
The only good I see in this is maybe it lights a fire under Kemp’s ass, considering how poorly he has played to date. He really took it personal.
If Quentin is indeed leaning into pitches, the umpires do have the latitude to take care of that. If his elbow is over the plate when it’s hit, it’s a dead ball strike. If he doesn’t make any attempt to get out of the way, it’s a dead ball ball, and stay-here-buddy no-1B-for-you.
In yesterday’s Cubs-Giants game, the Giants were down 5-0 in the 4th inning, but had the bases loaded, 2 outs, and the pitcher (Vogelsong) coming up. Bochy waved the white flag, and decided that bullpen rest was more important than pinch hitting. Vogelsong drew a walk and the Giants got 4 runs.
Vogelsong actually sent an inning ending grounder to Castro, who let it go through his legs. A single, hit batter, and a double after that and the Giants had 4 unearned runs.
It was the 5th inning when Vogelsong got the bases loaded pass.
Carlos Quentin owns the minor league single season record for being hit by pitches (43 times).
Since 2007, he has been hit by a pitch 108 times. A hundred and eight! So clearly, Greinke didn’t mean to hit the guy in the situation the game was in, and equally clearly is that Quentin likes to lean into pitches to draw walks.
Frankly I don’t understand why umpires keep letting him get away with it. It’s not like it just happened a couple times.
I mentioned earlier that these guys have issues or something- or at least Quentin says they do. Greinke has hit him 3 times, and apparently he is the only batter Greinke has hit that often. Of course the last time Greinke hit him with a pitch was in 2009, so, you know, it’s one of those intense feuds where absolutely nothing happens for years at a time.
Either that, or Quentin is full of shit. Supposedly, Quentin had to be restrained from going after Greinke the SECOND time Greinke hit him.
Let’s see. According to Baseball Reference:
Quentin hit a home run off Greinke the very first time they faced each other.
Quentin subsequently went 0-4 with a walk against Greinke over the course of a couple of games before being HBP the first time (first pitch of the at-bat). In that scenario, Greinke’s Royals were ahead by a run and there were two runners on. Doesn’t sound like a good time to plunk someone intentionally.
Quentin hit a home run in his next at-bat against Greinke, followed by a single. He went 0-3 against Greinke in the next three at-bats he had (spread out over two different games) and then he was hit the second time. This was on a 1-1 count with nobody on and the White Sox trailing by a run. Perhaps better – but still not ideal – circumstances for hitting a guy on purpose.
Since then, Quentin had had 17 PAs against Greinke before being hit the third time. Quentin collected a home run, two singles and a walk in those appearances, going 3-16. The last time they’d faced each other was on August 22, 2010, and Quentin had been 0-2 against Greinke last night before the HBP.
I realize that stats aren’t going to tell the entire story of a grudge between two guys, but looking at those figures, I’m inclined to think Greinke is telling the truth when he says he’s never thought about plunking Quentin. Unless Quentin had showboated on some prior occasion, I just don’t see it.
And unfortunately, Quentin is going to walk away with a 5 game suspension at most, while Greinke will be out for months. I have a funny feeling that the series at Dodger Stadium next week is going to be…interesting, like “warnings issued before each game” interesting.
Yeah, I suspect you’re right, particularly if Quentin makes it back to the team in time for part of the series. I’m there on Wednesday night – should be interesting. I’m really not keen on seeing anyone else get hurt, though.
I think you’ll see a longer than normal suspension for Quentin. What did Kemp do? Confront him after the game ended? That might cost him, too. I think I’d start the bidding at 10 games.
By way of comparison, Pete Rose played 3,562 games, more than anyone else in the history of baseball, and was hit by a pitch 107 times.
The #2 man in games played was Carl Yaztrzemski. In his entire career he was hit by a pitch just 40 times.
Hank Aaron is third in games played. He was hit just 32 times.
Fourth, Rickey Henderson. 98 times.
Fifth, Ty Cobb. 94 times. Remember, Ty was not well liked.
Sixth is a tie between Eddie Murray, who was plunked 18 times in his entire career, and Stan Musial, who was plunked 53 times. After them comes Cal Ripken, the eighth man to play 3000 games, who was plunked 66 times. Willie Mays, ninth, got dinged 44 times. Barry Bonds is tenth all time in games played and was infamous for allegedly allowing his elbow to get hit by pitches, but in his 2,986 games was still not hit as often as Carlos Quentin, 106 dings.
You have to get down to 16th on the games played list before you hit (ha ha) someone with more HBPs than Carlos Quentin, that being, of course, Craig Biggio, who let himself get hit as a strategy. And it took him a career four times as long to get there; Quentin is hit by pitches almost as often than anyone in major league history on a per game basis, so far as I can tell.