15 Games?

DC does not get too many suspensions, but when they do, they are ridiculous. The last one was Ovechkin for checking a guy next to the goal mouth. The Blackhawk's owner wanted him suspended for the rest of the year. I wonder if that might have had something to do with the Caps being favored to play in the finals against his team before the ice crew at Bell Center sabotaged the Caps' skates? Now Nyjer Morgan is set to serve a 15 game suspension for several "incidents" which have taken place over the last week or so. The MLB never fails to completely drop the ball when it comes to DC baseball.


First off the MLB cannot look at all of the incidents as a whole. Something is awry with Morgan, but that is a Rizzo/Riggleman issue, not a MLB problem. Morgan has been acting erratically all year, not hitting anywhere near lead-off hitter standards, constantly getting picked off, and of course there was the glove-tossing incident when he thought Adam Jone's ball hopped the fence. If he is swearing at the fans, that is inexcusable and certainly fineable, but not suspension-worthy for a first time deal. The bottom line is you can not have players swearing at fans, no matter how obnoxious they may be at times.


Running into Cards catcher Bryan Anderson was stupid, and missing the plate added insult to injury. However, it did not violate the rules of the game. It was a blatant breach of baseball etiquette if he meant to hit him, but not illegal by any means. Furthermore, Pujols pump-faked home. Morgan claims he thought the ball was coming, and from a guy who thought that the Jones ball was a homer when it was sitting right in front of him, you might believe him. Either way, next year when he plays the Cards, he will get thrown at and the incident will be closed. It can be handled by the players and moved past because the Nats and the Cards are professionals. The Marlins professionalism is what comes into question for me.


When Morgan bowled over Fins catcher Brett Hayes he may have been safe if he slid. Or he may have been out, we don't know. Either way I trust Morgan's judgement on that play. He is one of the best baserunners in the league. (Discount the pickoffs this year, and for exhibit A I would present the Braves game where Strasburg was scratched. Morgan promptly got on first to lead off, and made it home before the second batter Guzman was called safe or out. Say what you will about the guy but his judgement on the bases is usually spot on.) There was nothing illegal about running towards the plate that Hayes was blocking. The Marlins got mad at Morgan and threw at him his second time up. If they were so upset about the illegal play, why didn't they throw at him the first time when they thought it was still a game?

Instead, they throw at him when they feel the game is over in the 4th, Morgan takes his base without arguing, and the incident is over, play ball. Morgan steals and the Marlins feel they are entitled to not hold him, playing deep in the infield to gobble up singles in a game that saw 26 runs. 26! Who said the game was over and Nyjer was not allowed to steal while his team was down? If the game was so out of hand why did the Marlins use their closer and not a mop-up bull pen guy? Nyjer had a head full of steam and manufactured a run as a result, I would have sent him. And that is exactly the type of never give-up attitude that I want on my baseball team and that has been lacking for the Nats since their inaugural season. "Put me on base and I'll make you pay."

So the Marlins beaned two more Nationals, then tried to bean Morgan once more before all hell broke loose. How many times were the Nationals supposed to get beaned before someone did something? Were they going to stop at four, or would five or six have sufficed? It is an automatic suspension for charging the mound, and Morgan should be suspended the two or three games for that. But just as throwing at Morgan the first time was within the code, the next three beanballs were clearly outside of it, and a brawl ensued. That is the umpires fault for letting the game spin out of control with a young, immature Marlins organization. Not Nyjer's for defending himself and his team. Sanchez was the guy who should have gotten the heavy suspension for his cheap-shot clothesline. I really hope he gets a ball buried in his ribcage when the Marlins show up to Nats Park on the 10th.


Finally, Morgan yelling as he left the pile-up was not unreasonable. He took the best of what the cheap-shot Marlins could throw when he was outnumbered 9 to 1 and probably got the best of it. Volstad was bruised after the game, Nyjjer wasn't even swollen. He is an ex-hockey player, I expect him to be excited coming out of a fight he got the best of. Unfortunately, he got suspended like a Cap. Most of the commentators who have chimed in on this issue know very little about these facts, they only stop in if the Nats brawl or misspell their uniforms. Take the instances one by one, and Morgan was only in the wrong if he swore at the fans. He gets an automatic suspension for charging the mound; that is it. I only hope these uninformed detractors do not take this into account on appeal for the eight game suspension for throwing the ball to the fan; the fan himself said there was no harm intended, it was a good-natured player giving a fan a souvenir.


If there is one positive to take out of the incident that was unnecessarily escalated from a hurt player to an all-out brawl, it is Adam Dunn. How is he not re-signed yet? He was one of the first Nattos tossing Marlins off Morgan, despite the fact that he is in a contract year and a rolled ankle could cost him millions. Guys like Dunn who that stick up for the other guys wearing Washington across their chest with no regard for personal interest to themselves are the guys we need here. Morgan is questionable for next year; not because he fought back for himself and his teammates from multiple unprovoked attacks, but because we need a lead-off hitter who is better than hovering around .250. His average, not his temper is the problem. In other words, its a Nationals problem, not a MLB problem and it should have stayed that way.