My Problem With the Red Sox vs. Orioles Beef

I will always love beef between two sports teams. It makes watching the games so much better, because you always know something interesting is going to happen when the teams square off. Obviously, I’m not a fan of Red Sox fans using racial slurs towards Adam Jones, but I am here for fighting and pitchers throwing at guys intentionally. Being thrown at is a part of the game, and while obviously I don’t want to see anyone get seriously injured, to me it wouldn’t be baseball without it. In just about every game the Sox and Orioles have played against each other since Manny Machado’s slide into Dustin Pedroia, we have seen a player on each team be thrown at. In just this recent series alone we’ve seen Chris Sale throw behind Manny Machado, and Xander Bogaerts get drilled by a pitch.

In my opinion, I don’t believe the slide into Pedroia was meant to hurt him. But I do believe it was a dirty slide, and that he was trying to break up a double play with it. My problem with this situation is this: the slide was almost two weeks ago, it’s time to stop throwing at guys. This should have been squashed after Matt Barnes threw at Machado in the game following the slide. Barnes served his suspension and stood up for Pedroia, everything should have been squared away. But now we’re a few series removed from the play, and guys are still being thrown at. It has to stop, because someone is going to either getting suspended or hurt. The league is already talking about suspending Chris Sale, and I really am not ready for a potential 4 game or longer stretch without him.

Clearly Machado has had enough of the nonsense, and you can’t blame him. This has gone on way too long, but both managers need to stop. You’d be lying to yourself if you believe Buck Showalter isn’t saying to his guys exactly what Farrell is saying. They both are equally responsible for what is going on. I love sports beef, but I hope these intentional hits come to an end soon.

When the O’s get a nice lead tomorrow I hope Pedroia gets drilled. Hard. In the knee.

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) May 3, 2017

p.s. Screw you, Jason LaConfora.

Written By: Nick Cherico (@NickCherico2)