St. Louis Cardinals: Yadier Molina was right to fight

During Sunday’s loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, St. Louis Cardinals’ catcher Yadier Molina went nose-to-nose with the Diamondbacks’ manager. He was right to do so.

The St. Louis Cardinals were knotted at 0-0 with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the top of the second inning. A.J. Pollock had just been called out on strikes to record the first out. Luke Weaver‘s pitch count was at a mere 22 pitches. Then things erupted.

Having gross displeasure at the strike zone- which admittedly was suspect- Diamondbacks’ manager Torey Lovullo raced to the plate to voice his displeasure. As the rule states, arguing balls and strikes is an automatic ejection so Lovullo was intent on getting his say knowing the outcome. This turned sour however when he changed his target and focused on Yadier Molina.

First, let me say again that the zone was suspect and that I have little disagreement with Lovullo for arguing the zone. I also have no disagreement with Lovullo exiting the dugout knowing he was going to get ejected. I do admire the success that the Diamondbacks are carrying. That’s where my agreements cease.

The real problem here was when Lovullo turned his attention to Molina. Why? Why go after an opposing player for something he should be doing in his role? If you didn’t hear, Lovullo was arguing that Molina was framing pitches and essentially cheating to get calls in his favor. Um… Isn’t that the job of the catcher?

Look, Yadi is- at least in my opinion- the BEST at framing pitches and is the model to which every young catcher should aspire. And it is the catcher’s job to FRAME PITCHES for the pitcher and for the umpire. That is his job. End of story.

So when Lovullo turned his argument at Yadier, this started down the road of “too far.” The real too far hit when Lovullo decided it wise to call Yadi names. If you watch the video, Yadi stood still while Torey argued the zone and seemed to even stay still when he was first called the in appropriate word (hyphenated nonetheless). Here’s the video of the altercation:

Notice Yadi standing still? Then Luvollo pointing directly at Yadi? That’s when Yadi lost it. Here’s what Yadi had to say about the event:

I don’t blame Yadi at all. I don’t blame Torey for arguing the zone but he did cross a line when he called Yadi names.

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An Arizona fan commented on Twitter that Molina was a jerk for becoming physical and that he needs to learn respect. A St. Louis Cardinals fan argued in rebuttal that respect is earned and that Molina has it but Luvollo does not. I’ve not added the tweets here to protect these individuals and due to the fact that I fundamentally disagree with the placement of “respect.”

To me, the issue of respect here is one of humanity. I find it incredibly disrespectful for anyone to call another person horrific names in the manner that Luvollo did to Yadi. A person who respects another would never call another such a terrible name.

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Let’s hope this thing passes because it sure was ugly. Thanks for reading and stay with us for all news and opinions related to our St. Louis Cardinals.