Major League Baseball handed down some of the most severe fighting suspensions in its history Thursday to the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates, who brawled Tuesday night.
Pirates reliever Keone Kela drew the longest suspension, 10 games for throwing at the Reds’ Derek Dietrich. Umpires actually didn’t even eject Kela at the time.
The Reds’ Amir Garrett charged the Pirates’ dugout two innings later and drew an eight-game suspension. Reds manager David Bell, who came out of the clubhouse after umpires ejected him, got six games. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle received a two-game suspension.
The league suspended Pittsburgh infielder Jose Osuna for five games and gave three games each to Reds pitcher Jared Hughes and Pirates pitcher Kyle Crick.
The league also hit Yasiel Puig with a three-game ban, an oddity because the Reds traded him to the Indians shortly after the game in question. Puig will serve his suspension in the American League.
All of the players are appealing their suspensions.
. @MLB makes statement with suspensions: Keone Kela (10 games) gets stiffer penalty for throwing a pitch in the area of Derek Dietrich’s head and “his role in instigating the bench-clearing incident” than Amir Garrett (8 games) for running toward the dugout and throwing a punch.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 1, 2019
Sending messages
Red manager David Bell believes the brawl started because the Pirates continued to try to hit Derek Dietrich. Dietrich admired a home run during an April game and Pittsburgh took exception.
Bell said the Reds’ actions and the resulting brawl only happened because of Kela’s pitch.
“This comes down to, really, one of our guys, the ball was thrown at his head,” Bell said, according to the Associated Press. “What were we supposed to do? If we don’t, I can’t live without doing anything to protect one of our guys. It’s that simple.”
“If we don’t do anything, if we don’t protect ourselves, then their pitcher just gets away with throwing at one of our guy’s head,” he said.
David Bell (on @FOXSportsOH): “It’s bigger than baseball at this point. People you care about, their careers are put in jeopardy like that and nothing, just nothing, has been done about it. At some point we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do.” #Reds
— Joe Danneman (@FOX19Joe) July 31, 2019
A history … and a future
The teams play a couple more series this season, starting Aug. 23.
“The incidents between these two clubs remain a source of concern, and it’s reflected by the level of discipline we are handing down today,” MLB Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre said to the AP.
“Everyone on the field should be aware of the example they are setting for fans, particularly young people. I firmly expect these two managers and all others to hold their players accountable for appropriate conduct and to guide them in the right direction,” he said.
The teams behaved themselves as they concluded their series Wednesday. But the fight already has carried over once. Will it again?
