Dempsey on Bautista - "We would have taken care of him in my day. It wouldn't have been pretty."

[AlbionHero]

Good point. I for one find it astonishing that several poster s here go to such extremes to criticize Dempsey! Just don't get it!!

Its because I realize this is only a game and trying to hurt people over a game is petty and barbaric.

[Old#5fan]

Its because I realize this is only a game and trying to hurt people over a game is petty and barbaric.

Um don't know your age but you seem very naive if you think guys who play sports professionally for millions of dollars is "just a game." This isn't a friendly game of backyard whiffle ball or even a 5th grade softball game. This is no more of a "game" than any high income high wealth potential occupation or business. I am not saying murder Batista or maim him for life but planting one square in his rib cage or back is what he needs as he is attempting to bully the Orioles. You don't let a bully have his way - you stand up to him and give him a taste of his own medicine or you get punked. That is life period man and yes professional sports is real life with real people and not all of them nicey nice in the real world! So deal with it!

[AlbionHero]

Um don't know your age but you seem very naive if you think guys who play sports professionally for millions of dollars is "just a game." This isn't a friendly game of backyard whiffle ball or even a 5th grade softball game. This is no more of a "game" than any high income high wealth potential occupation or business.

Going by this logic, you should start beating up people in the business world who wrong you instead of having class. The best way is to beat them at their own game.... In this situation, just strike out Bautista or make him hit into a double play. Just because this is a sport doesn't mean you can go around trying to hurt people who tick you off, this isn't Ancient Rome and their arenas.

Maybe it is because I'm younger (I'm 29) and they don't encourage that bush league stuff these days, but I just can't see any reason why you should do that other then to try to act tough. We're better then that.

[Old#5fan]

They aren't crass boobs and never spied for PA,

Beiing crass and a bit of a boob can also be seen as telling it like it is (honest and not superficial or phoney) and a bit of a boob as just being a humorous guy or character. Under your harsh criticism you must also despise Yogi Berrra another beloved boob by just about everyone! As far as "spying for PA I find that just laughable as you have no factual evidence of that other than rumor and hearsay!

[Il BuonO]

Just ignore him. He is trolling us at this point. Outrage is exactly the reaction he is trying to get.

What? You're giving an awful lot of credit to a guy who may have ruined his arm trying to throw out Young at 1st base because he was still angry. He's not very bright.

[Old#5fan]

Going by this logic, you should start beating up people in the business world who wrong you instead of having class. The best way is to beat them at their own game.... In this situation, just strike out Bautista or make him hit into a double play. Just because this is a sport doesn't mean you can go around trying to hurt people who tick you off, this isn't Ancient Rome and their arenas.

Maybe it is because I'm younger (I'm 29) and they don't encourage that bush league stuff these days, but I just can't see any reason why you should do that other then to try to act tough. We're better then that.

I'm again going to point out that in the context of the sport Batista is gaining a very unfair dishonest advantage by crowding the plate and acting the way he does. You say just strike him out as the way to deal with his bullying tactics. Yet common sense should tell you that is waaay more difficult when he effectively cutting the plate in half and is a good hitter to begin with. We can argue about this ad nauseum but there is no way no how that I can agree with your approach. That is just rolling over and being punked. Any competitive non submissive strong person would not stand for this especially when pro sports is your livelihood. Also I wouldn't allow anyone to punk me at work either. I have spent most of my 42 years in the working world in jobs that did not require me to submit to bully types or intimidation.

[SeaBird]

I don't want to even get into the whole thing. There's the nasty exchange with Jay Gibbons' wife, all the backstabbing rumors of him trying to manage the Orioles, and then one other pathetic exchange between him and Michael Reghi while doing a game in the dark years that I'm not relating again.

He is not a character guy... by any means.

There is a darker side to Dempsey. Like throwing former teammates under the bus?

After he left the Orioles he talked about managing the Orioles:

"I thought about it," he said, "but it was never a real serious thing. It wasn't my crusade or anything. My goal was to finish my career playing for Cal Ripken Sr. That was it."

He might have succeeded if the Orioles hadn't fallen apart the last two years. When Peters began to look for ways to improve the team, he couldn't help but notice that Dempsey hit .175 against right-handed pitching and .132 with runners in scoring position (fourth-lowest in the American League).

What's more, at 37, his once-formidable throwing arm was just a memory. He threw out only 29% of opposing base runners; suddenly, the weaknesses in his game became more noticeable. When Dempsey threw everyone out and the Orioles were piling up 95-victory seasons, no one cared much that he consistently left runners in scoring position or that pitchers thought he was absent-minded behind the plate.

When the San Diego Padres phoned offering Kennedy for pitcher Storm Davis, that was it.

"I don't believe my skills have diminished that much," Dempsey said. "I did have a sore arm the last couple of years, but our pitchers were so bad at holding runners on, they never gave me a chance. I think it wasn't fair for the Orioles to get down on me without considering that stuff. I'm going to surprise them. I've got a lot more pride than they think and a lot more baseball left in me."

http://articles.latimes.com/1987-04-26/sports/sp-1405_1_dempsey-rick-prove/2

[El Gordo]

Beiing crass and a bit of a boob can also be seen as telling it like it is (honest and not superficial or phoney) and a bit of a boob as just being a humorous guy or character. Under your harsh criticism you must also despise Yogi Berrra another beloved boob by just about everyone! As far as "spying for PA I find that just laughable as you have no factual evidence of that other than rumor and hearsay!

Anybody who dares to compare Dempsey with Yogi is greatly confused or worse. A crass boob might be amusing to other crass boobs. But Yogi is neither, he's a great baseball man, philosopher and patriot.

[Old#5fan]

Anybody who dares to compare Dempsey with Yogi is greatly confused or worse. A crass boob might be amusing to other crass boobs. But Yogi is neither, he's a great baseball man, philosopher and patriot.

Well I think if your dislike of Dempsey based on the silly petty stuff you wrote and allege is totally absurd and over the top! Same way with that lengthy post by someone before yours describing a so called "dark side" if Dempsey and accusing him of throwing his teammates under the bus when all he said was pitchers weren't holding runners on well ( which probably was true) and defending his ability nearing the end of his career which what player doesnt?

[CA-ORIOLE]

I hate to say it but I'm 100% in agreement with oldfan on Bautista and Dempsey.

[CA-ORIOLE]

What does that entail?

Most everything except comparing Dempsey to Yogi Berra.

[CA-ORIOLE]

No. What would you have the Orioles do to Jose Bautista that wouldn't be so pretty?

Planted more baseballs in his rib cage and tell him to stop whining about it or get off the plate a bit.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Great. Sounds very manly. For every ball we plant in his ribs, they plant one in Adam Jones's ribs. Right? I mean there would be retaliation for each time. Haven't we already hit him a bunch of times. Has that changed his act any?

Sure and the alternative is to just give a great hitter a huge advantage so he can kick our butts 18 times a year. We haven't done it well enough imo and I think it sucks that other teams don't do it more either. He needs to get off the plate and give the pitcher an outside corner. It's nonsense to let him get away with it and worse to let him get away with his act while he does it imo.

[Machado13]

Hit him as many times as they want...can't stand that guy

[AlbionHero]

Hit him as many times as they want...can't stand that guy

And like RZNJ said, that would just mean Jones would get hit and potentially injured. And then that would start fights, and get players suspended. And then we're without players for important games because we want to be tough guys instead of just playing the game.

This stuff might of been the norm a while ago but it makes very little sense now.