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St. Louis Cardinals: It is Time to Eliminate Brawls

By Steven McNeil

Jun 7, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles shortstop Manny Machado (13) is restrained by first base umpire C.B. Bucknor (center) during a brawl in the fifth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles won 9-1. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 7, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles shortstop Manny Machado (13) is restrained by first base umpire C.B. Bucknor (center) during a brawl in the fifth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles won 9-1. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the St. Louis Cardinals playing the Cincinnati Reds and the fight that occurred between Baltimore and Kansas City last night, brawls and the HBP that cause them is at the forefront of the conversation again.

Any time the St. Louis Cardinals play the Reds, my mind always wanders to the brawl from 2010. The same brawl that saw Johnny Cueto end the career of Jason LaRue and pitted former teammates in Scott Rolen and Chris Carpenter against each other.

This brawl was started by Brandon Phillips tapping the shins of Yadier Molina and some choice words said to Molina. This was on the heels of Phillips’ comments regarding his disdain for the Cardinals’ franchise.

To this day, Yadier Molina is still booed in Cincinnati and Cueto and Phillips both are audibly booed in St. Louis. However, this is six years in the past now and while the fans may never forget it, it is long behind the players. There’s not even been a smidge of an issue since and the Cardinals haven’t found themselves involved in any kind of brawl since.

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There have been benches cleared here and there, but to my knowledge, there hasn’t been one brawl involving this team since the Cincinnati incident. So, perhaps my upcoming opinion is skewed slightly by not having my team involved in such incidents.

However, here we are in 2016 and we have had two different incidents where two players have gotten physical with each other for what has happened on the field. This, of course, led to a brawl between the two teams.

Last night, it was Yordano Ventura throwing at and hitting Manny Machado. Earlier in the season, it was Jose Bautista making a hard and late slide into Rougned Odor that resulted in an altercation between the two players (including Bautista getting absolutely rocked by Odor). A brawl ensued after this incident as well.

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So, as a man who has had a lot to do with mentoring young people in my life, I have to think “What kind of message are we sending kids?”. I want you to imagine something for me.

Let’s imagine your son/daughter/nephew/niece/cousin/grandchild is playing with their friends outside. One friend makes them mad, they pick up the nearest object around them and toss it at said friend, that friend is then mad and a fight ensues.

You rush in and punish both children and tell them that is not the way we treat others. You don’t punish the object thrower and praise the other for “sticking up for themselves”. Both are equally punished for doing wrong.

Transfer now with me to the softball diamond where you and your buddies play church/beer league softball every week. Somebody’s feelings are hurt when you slide a little aggressively into second base, words are exchanged and before you know it, punches are thrown and we have a full on brawl on our hands.

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In this scenario, the police are going to be called and those involved are going to get in some kind of legal trouble. There’s no slap on the wrist, as this is flat out against the law, no matter how innocent the game is.

However, when we put this into the context of the game of baseball, it is somehow ok to charge the mound and attack another man if he hits you with a ball. It is somehow perfectly ok and “policing the game” to hit a batter if your batter is hit first.

I don’t care how long this has been a part of the game. It is something that makes literally no sense and doesn’t line up with other sports like Basketball and Football and our view of those particular players when stuff like this happens.

Look, I get the entertainment aspect out of it, but it sends the absolute wrong message and MLB has to start policing this better. With the emphasis on player safety lately, we can’t have guys getting injured by getting beaned by a 95 MPH FB to the knee or by another player’s fist.

This doesn’t make the league look good. In my opinion, it makes the league outdated and makes the players look immature. None of this would be happening if they were in any other profession.

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I am generally intrigued as to why this needs to still be a part of the game. So, if you have this opinion, please let me know how you can justify this and how you would explain it to children in the comments section. If you agree with me, I would love to know that I am not alone and

If you agree with me, I would love to know that I am not alone and would love to see your reasoning as well. So, regardless of your opinion, I want to hear from you in the comments.

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