We have to hit Jeter tomorrow if we get a good lead.

[UMDTerrapins]

Why don't we just throw at Girardi? Too obvious?

[bluedog]

When I was a kid a guy backed into my parents' station wagon at a gas station. The only way he learned his lesson that day was when Dad backed up, got a good running start, and smashed into his car at 50 mph. It's the unwritten rules of the road.

Okay you owe me a new shirt. I read this while drinking some coffee and I damn near choked to death laughing and spewed coffee all over my self.

I'm wondering if you did this with the intent to hurt me. If my coffee had been really hot, i could have suffered serious burns. Really dude, what did I do to deserve you wishing physical harm on me?

[BRobinsonfan]

I'll say this again: we need to worry more about the wild card suspensions that would come from the benches clearing (which they would with the tensions as they are). Not just the pitcher. Yes, obviously we have suspension fodder like Gregg. But what happens if we lose AJ? Wieters? Remember when Cal's streak almost ended because he got caught at the bottom of a pile and got his knee rolled?

Sometimes you gotta pick your battles and let the play on the field do your talking. It's not "rolling over" or the like, it's rising above the crap and prevailing another way.

I've seen this question asked a number of times in this thread but to the best of my recollection I don't recall anyone from the chest thumping "hurt 'em bad" side of he argument answer it.

[bluedog]

Why don't we just throw at Girardi? Too obvious?

I think we should send one of our newspaper reporters to break his legs, because apparently Girardi bullies the media and I'm sure they'll want to make sure he doesn't eat their lunches by inflicting egregious bodily harm on him as a warning. It's a perfect ploy that can't be traced back to Showalter.

[bluedog]

Let's simplify this.

1. Sabatha got ahead of Nick and came inside, either in effort to jam him or back him off the plate a little.

2. Sabathia thinks it's a foul ball as Nick writhes in pain

3. Should the Orioles hit a Yankee batter in retalitation?

4. Will hitting a Yankee batter or knocking them off the plate change the way Yankee pitchers pitch the O's?

5. Will Buck have someone hit a Yankee just to say "You put one of guys out and we don't like it"?

As for the three questions I would say.

3. I don't feel strongly that they should but it's okay with me if they do, as long as the balance of the game is not at hand.

4. Personally don't think a purpose pitch changes anything about how these teams play each other, except may turn up the bad blood, which isn't the worst thing in the world.

5. I don't know. Part of me thinks Buck is old school enough to believe he might. He's also a pretty logical guy who seems to think things out, so I'm not sure.

Escalating this from an apparently inadvertent injury to a clear case of the O's throwing at one of the Yanks top hitters in retaliation absolutely won't help us a win the game today (it could literally cause us to lose it) and it almost certainly would cause that the Yanks to respond in kind and might lead to another injury to a key O's hitter (Reynolds, Jones or Wieters).

There is no upside to doing it (other than satiating some people's bloodlust) and there are many, many potential downsides, including additional injuries, suspensions and simply putting runners on base and costing the team outs in a critical game the team needs to win.

Buck will never put the team's season on the line by stooping to this kind of petty BS. Look at the way he responded to Bobby Valentine's "lucky" comments in the press. He went out of his way to avoid starting a war in the press and distracting from what the O's team is doing in the win column. I'll be absolutely stunned if he throws at a Yankee today in retaliation.

Winning and taking sole possession of first place is the best form of retaliation. If that happens, the blood in the water will cause a frenzy in the NY media and the whole Yankees edifice could come tumbling down on itself. Just look at what a single bad loss did to them last night - Girardi nearly having a fistfight with a reporter in his office after the game! The Yanks are as vulnerable as they've ever been in the past 15 years.

Throw at and hurt Jeter or ARod or Cano and you run the risk of causing the entire Yankee nation (players, ownership, press and fans) to turn their attention from tearing each other apart to tearing the O's apart. The LAST thing we need is for the Yanks to rally around something like this.

Win. The. Game.

[sevastras]

I just dont have it in me to read the entire thread, but I will give my thoughts. It is terrible what happened to Nick, I was happy that we won the game but I couldnt get extremely happy like I did the first game. I am in the club of thinking that we should hit one of their players just because. I have said it before, but it seems that when I was younger and this team was competing, it would plunk a guy every now and then and let the other team no they werent going to take any bull. Personally I think it should be Texeria who gets it. And PS, I am glad that the O's didnt get him. Hit another out Sheriff!

[sevastras]

And no, we wouldnt lose one of our players over this. If we bean someone, warnings will go out and they will throw at us and get thrown out of the game. Benches will clear, and that will be it.

[Tank]

If we do retaliate, use Gregg or Strop.

[The Wedge]

Here's another thing to consider:

The Yankees are in turmoil. Why give them a rallying point? Especially when it's US they're partially rallying against?

[Moose Milligan]

Here's another thing to consider:

The Yankees are in turmoil. Why give them a rallying point? Especially when it's US they're partially rallying against?

BLARRRGGHHHH WE NEED TO ACT TOUGH!!!

This is one of El Trea's little war cries, btw. Remember when he wanted the Orioles to start brawls in spring training for the hell of it?

[The Wedge]

And no, we wouldnt lose one of our players over this. If we bean someone, warnings will go out and they will throw at us and get thrown out of the game. Benches will clear, and that will be it.

You can't be sure of any of that. You don't know that the umps don't immediately start tossing. You don't know that it's just one of those benign bench clearings. The fact is, the signs point to the umps having a quick trigger and both teams being hot if they clear the benches.

[BRobinsonfan]

He said this on an interview on YES from what one of my friends in NY who's a Yankee fan just told me. No link to a video that I can dig up yet. Sabathia apparently made all the appropriate noises about never wanting to injure another player and what a great player Nick is, yada yada yada.

The press isn't talking about it because "Sabathia hopes Markakis is okay" isn't worthy of a headline to them. You want to blame people for not addressing Nick's injury, blame the press.

Maybe the press isn't talking about it because no one actually playing in last nights game actually thinks it was intentional and thus there's no real controversy?

I haven't seen Nick or Buck or anybody call out CC about the pitch which is what you'd expect, especially in the heat of a playoff race, if they thought it was anything but an accident.

In fact, here's what Adam Jones had to say about it: "It's part of the game," Jones said. "People have injuries late in the year. It's extremely unfortunate. It sucks, but it's sports. It's professional sports. It's how things happen sometimes".

I don't think anyone would ever accuse Adam Jones of being a shy, retiring wall flower. If he thought it was intentional I believe he would have had some harsh words for CC and the Yankess.

[Tank]

Using Gregg, means we are losing the ballgame. No thanks.

I was thinking more like an 8-2 lead in the 8th inning or something. I don't care if we do or not but don't risk suspension with anyone important.

[UMDTerrapins]

Back when I was young and used to pitch, I remember thinking how much fun it would be if instead of throwing at a guy for retaliation, you would get the signals, come set, and then just dart full speed at the hitter and shoulder tackle him in the mid-section. The only down side is it is inherently dangerous to spontaneously charge a guy with a bat on his shoulder.

[Moose Milligan]

Wonder what JTrea is thinking. We got this far without a 500M payroll.

DD is God, MacPhail sucks, still need a first baseman, pitching is overrated, blah blah blah