Nyjer Morgan was a jackass last night, but the Marlins were no saints themselves
Sep 2, 2010, 8:15 AM EST
Between his mission to destroy opposing catchers, that ball-throwing thing, other run-ins with fans and the rhubarb he launched last night, I don’t think anyone would disagree that Nyjer Morgan has turned himself into baseball’s biggest villain in the past week. Still, someone needs to call out the Marlins for last night’s ugliness as well, because they seemed way out of line to me.
I get the first pitch that hit Morgan in the fourth inning. He unnecessarily slammed into Brett Hayes the night before, injuring his shoulder and ending his season. While I think throwing at guys is dumb, that’s probably going to get you hit, and Morgan got hit. He took his lumps and walked down to first base without incident.
The pitch behind Morgan that set off the brawl, however, was totally stupid. Morgan stealing a couple of bases with his team down 11 was the trigger there. Here’s the Marlins’ Wes Helms after the game explaining it:*
“I know he’s stealing bases out of his own doing, he’s trying to get
back at us. We had to show him
that we weren’t going to put up with the way he was treating us after
last night but also trying to take the bases being [down] 10 runs. . . .
He gets under everybody’s skin. Especially mine.”
So what? Sure, Morgan is a punk. He has demonstrated that these past few days. But if you believe his press clippings, Helms is supposed to be a manager in training so maybe his skin shouldn’t be so thin. Morgan may have been trying to show Florida up, but he also came in to score on a sac fly that he wouldn’t have scored on if he hadn’t stolen bases. And while the Nats were down 11, the Marlins’ recent history shows that they’re not exactly a team that can be trusted to protect a lead, so you can’t assume the competitive portion of that game was over. I’m with Jim Riggleman here: the Nats will stop playing to win when the Marlins agree to stop trying too:
“I got no problem with” Morgan stealing the bases, Riggleman said. “We
decide when we run. The Florida Marlins will not decide when we run. We
will decide when we run. Nobody will decide when we run.”
Darn tootin’. Bad behavior is one thing, but playing baseball in a way that just doesn’t sit well with Wes Helms or whoever should not be something that gets you thrown at.
And of course the fight itself wasn’t Florida’s finest hour either. Gabby Sanchez gets points for style with that flying forearm he threw, but it seemed like excessive force to me. Morgan was certainly the aggressor, but he’s also a little guy who obviously can’t fight, and the guy he was going after (Volstad) is about seven feet tall or something. A bear hug or something seems more in order there. He’ll probably get fined for that, so no worries I suppose. As will Nats’ third base coach Pat Listach, who had no business getting in the fight the way he did either. He’s going to get a big suspension too, I bet.
But back to the Marlins. I’m not defending Morgan — he has been way out of line lately and charging the mound is never a good move — but they need to be bigger than this.
*That Washington Post story is by Adam Kilgore. I was already a big fan of his and found him to be a really nice guy when I met him briefly down at spring training in March, but I’m seriously turning into a fanboy of his. Why? Because he used the terms “ruckus” and “heel turn” in the same paragraph. Which is about 11 shades of awesome.
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- Megary - Sep 2, 2010 at 8:29 AM
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Thank you. You just said professionally what I just wrote trainwreckishly in that other Morgan post.
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- murd - Sep 2, 2010 at 8:41 AM
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I disagree completely. Like I sad in the other thread, stealing just isn’t smart baseball there. Who gives a shit about a sac fly? You can’t play for 1 run an inning when you’re down 11 with 5 innings to play. If he gets thrown out, which he’s done plenty this year, they don’t even score the 1 that inning. Risk is not worth the slight reward. His only reason for stealing was to piss those guys off, and you can’t let a punk be a punk all the damn time without putting him in his place.
And as far as Sanchez using excessive force because Morgan is a “little guy who can’t fight,” please. Maybe a little guy who can’t fight shouldn’t start a damn fight.
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- mike wants wins - Sep 2, 2010 at 8:45 AM
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“he hurt our feelings, we should throw at him”…..what a bunch of immature people. Adults don’t throw at other adults over hurt feelings. Also, did no one on that roster see the games last week where teams came back from 10 down? Did their hitters just swing and miss at every pitch to get the game over? They are still playing baseball. If they don’t want a guy to steal, hold him on, and throw him out. Immaturity continues to reign in sports.
That said, Morgan does seem like a punk, but that’s no excuse for their behavior.
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- mike wants wins - Sep 2, 2010 at 8:47 AM
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murd, why not? How is his base stealing hurting the Marlins? An adult would laugh at him, or ignore him. He was causing no harm to the Marlins at all. Violence in the face of lack of harm – that might just be a cause of some of the problems on this planet.
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- Cheap Seat Chronicles - Sep 2, 2010 at 8:55 AM
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I think for it to be a legit “heel turn” for Morgan, he’d have needed to incite the brawl and then turn on the Nats after he’s lured Ryan Zimmerman out of the dugout and then clock him in the face with some brass knuckles he’s had lurking in his jockstrap all night.
Additionally, he’d then get back to the locker room and attack the already wounded Strasburg with a folding chair.
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- murd - Sep 2, 2010 at 8:57 AM
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Look, maybe throwing at him was an overreaction, maybe it wasn’t. But I guarantee you the Marlins aren’t the only team that would’ve done it. You don’t force plays that could potentially cause injury in a blowout.
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- grapes911 - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:13 AM
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The guy is playing on a crappy team and still gets all fired up. I like it. I wish more guys played with his intensity.
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- jdl1325 - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:16 AM
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The only mistake the Marlins made was Volstad missing him the second time.
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- nps6724 - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:17 AM
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Stolen bases now cause injuries to defenders enough for someone to avoid stealing in a blowout? More than, say, throwing at a guy?
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- Kris - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:19 AM
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I don’t get the “stealing causing unnecessary injury” angle. Sure, base-stealing may be higher-risk than most, but any play in baseball could potentially cause an injury. It’s an athletic contest. Stealing bases puts you in position to score more runs. Scoring runs is the object of the game. At what point are the Nationals supposed to stop trying to win? Should the Marlins have asked for a forfeit after they were up by 10, to avoid all further potential injuries?
Don’t get me wrong. Morgan is a jackass. But throwing behind a guy when you know he’s going to start a brawl, just because you don’t like the way he’s playing the game, is the height of foolishness.
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- Jaxeagle - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:28 AM
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If Wes was so upset why didn’t he say something to him when he stole third base idiot, nah he’d rather have his starting pitcher get in a brawl so he can come in and blindside someone, if he wasn’t supposed to steal why were they holding him on? Both teams were idiots last night case in point the Nats closer just happened to be warming up when Sanchez was hit quite a coincidence huh.
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- Kevin S. - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:29 AM
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I dunno, I felt the clothesline was actually more justified than the second pitch thrown behind him. Hitting a guy in the back is hardly just retribution for Morgan (twice!) going out of his way to take down catchers, even putting it over scoring runs, and yet you obviously can’t hit him in the head. Morgan needed to have his ass kicked, and he gave Sanchez the opportunity. Boom.
I don’t usually feel that way, but attacking multiple catchers in a week needs to be stood up to, and it’s the one time I’d prefer vigilante justice to a time out from Bud.
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- GIBoxer5 - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:32 AM
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JOKE. I’m a reds fan so really don’t give a damn about either of these teams but.. When did catchers become the new QB?? Hayes had the ball and was blocking the plate so he got what was coming to him. If you don’t want to be involved in the play then get the hell out from in front of the plate. That was just a good hard play. The Marlins look like little crying babies here. He was out of line stealing bases when his team was losing?? WTF?!?!? So I guess now if you are losing by over 8 points you are expected to just give up? Morgan is an ass and all of you Marlin fans crying like a bunch of b*tches need to grow a pair. If the Marlins played with half the passion of Morgan they’d probably have a much better record..Quite a few Marlins need to be suspended for impersonating not only competative athletes but MEN in general.
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- The Common Man - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:33 AM
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Don’t want Nyjer Morgan stealing bases with his team down 11? Hey, how about you throw him out, then. Nyjer Morgan may be a knucklehead, but he also blaming someone else for his failure to execute.
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- GIBoxer5 - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:35 AM
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He didn’t start it, but got what he had coming when he charged the mound. Just like Hayes got what he had coming when he stood in front of the plate with the ball. You can’t score 11 runs until you get that first one in, he was nowhere close to being out of line stealing bases, not everyone just rolls over in the face of adversity as you must.
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- Kevin S. - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:35 AM
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Hayes was not blocking the plate, and had Morgan slid he’d have been safe instead of out. You don’t gain points by trading outs for notches on the belt.
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- Ditto65 - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:36 AM
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I say throw at him again. And again.
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- Kung - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:42 AM
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He dislocated their catcher’s shoulder needlessly the night before. That’s a lot more than hurt feelings.
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- murd - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:47 AM
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No, but I do know how to play the game. The risk of being thrown out is much greater than the potential of being in a position to score on a sac fly. If you think he was just trying to get into scoring position, he was playing for 1 run which is bad baseball in the situation. I personally think he was just stealing to be a jackass. Like it or not, it’s an unwritten rule that you don’t steal in a blowout, whether you’re up or down. I didn”t make the rule, the Marlins didn’t make the rule, but Morgan broke it for whatever reason. And when you break unwritten rules, you tend to get thrown at. And you people are overlooking something here. Volstad threw behind him, it was a message. Morgan charged the mound after a pitch that didn’t even hit him. Talk about unnecessary.
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- GIBoxer5 - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:48 AM
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Go back and watch the video. His left foot was planted squarely in front of the plate which by definition is blocking the plate. I guess Morgan could have slid straight on and blew up Hayes’ ACL and MCL.. Its not the runners responsibility to risk injury to himself sliding sideways to avoid what the catcher has caused. Smart play, probably not. Dirty play, not a chance.
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- Kevin S. - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:53 AM
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Playing for one run is giving up outs to get the one run. Stealing the bases is acknowledging that you need runs, period, and you need to make sure you get them at every chance you can.
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- Kevin S. - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:55 AM
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If he slides around the foot, there’s no way Hayes gets the tag down. Instead, he hit him high. *Maybe* one could excuse it, if not for the earlier incident this week.
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- GIBoxer5 - Sep 2, 2010 at 9:59 AM
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So now your defense is a rule that doesn’t exsist..nice! Apparently you need to talk to the pros about your understanding of the rule book because there have been quite a few big comebacks this year. 100% guarentee you that NOONE outside of the Marlins organization had any problem whatsoever with the Nationals continuing to try to catch up tho down by 11. Again, we can’t all just roll over when down.
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- murd - Sep 2, 2010 at 10:00 AM
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Another thing. Watch the replay of Morgan stealing 3rd. He slides well through the bag like he was going after Helms. Just trying to score huh? I think not.
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- DCDave - Sep 2, 2010 at 10:19 AM
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I’m just upset Dibble wasn’t around to announce this one, who knows what he would have been capable of.
