Nyjer Morgan

[Mark Carver]

I have to admit to being a little surprised by some of what's been written in this thread.

First, I agree that Morgan has issues. He earned his 7 game suspension, and it should be extended due to this incident. However, to say it should be extended by a factor of 10 is ridiculous.

They threw behind him for trying to steal bases when his team was down by 11. They threw behind him because he stole two bases after being hit by a purpose pitch. I have news for you. If my team is down by 11, and I have a good basestealer get on base, I'm sending him. I want my team to fight (figuratively speaking), even when it is down by 11 - especially if it's only the 4th inning. In regards to stealing after being hit by a purpose pitch; that's exactly what I want my guy to do - make them pay for it. Doing it that way is better than taking aim at another player with another purpose pitch.

To me the Morgan charging the mound is not my sole reasoning for an extended vacation for Morgan. Add in his other recent alterations...

That guy is just out of control. First the cheap shot on Bryan Anderson, then he throws a ball at a fan, then he takes out another catcher, tells another fan to "shut up fat b****," then steals second and third down 11 runs, then charges the mound and jaws with the fans again on the way off the field.

source

Pat Listach does deserve to be suspended - a coach just can't do that.

I totally agree that Listach should be on vacation for a games for his actions.

MIAMI -- Catcher Brett Hayes has a Grade 1 separation in his left shoulder, and it's likely that he will miss the remainder of the season.

Hayes injured the shoulder after a hard collision with Washington outfielder Nyjer Morgan on a play at the plate in the 10th inning of Florida's 1-0 win on Tuesday.

An MRI performed on Wednesday detected the separation.

source

[Tony-OH]

Morgan is a complete jack-hole. Both of his run-ins with the catchers have not been warranted. He says he's trying to be hard-nosed, but when you are intentionally trying to hurt people than it's time for baseball to take care of things. Add in his complete disrespect for the fans, and this guy should get a "rest of the season" suspension.

As for throwing at him for stealing two bases while down by 11, I bet there's more to that story. I bet he probably said something to someone that got back to Volstad and he took care of business again, althbough I agree he should have at least hit him, and not thrown behind him.

Regardless, Morgan is certainly the MLB jack-hole of the year. I feel bad for the Nats fans who were riding high then came the Strasburg injury and now Morgan's actions are a black eye.

[CrimsonTribe]

So after the events in this thread, Morgan blatantly ran through a Cardinals catcher standing away from home plate after scoring. Then last night he took out the Marlins catcher (stupidly, since as the video says, he would have scored had he slid) and started screaming at a fan in the bottom of the inning.

That catcher is an awesome person, by the way.

Tonight, the Marlins hit him with an eleven-run lead. So he goes and steals second and third (again, eleven-run lead). So later, the Marlins throw behind him and, well...

http://deadspin.com/5628076/finally-a-baseball-fight-that-doesnt-disappoint

1) Gaby Sanchez is ALSO an awesome human being.

2) So that's what happened to Pat Listach!

2a) I hope Pat Listach gets suspended for the rest of the season.

3) Since Morgan is playing while appealing a seven-game suspension already, I hope MLB not only denies him but increases it by a power of ten.

Remember when people thought Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes would be the Nationals' problem outfielders? And Milledge was traded for frickin' Morgan!

This is all patently ridiculous. Sanchez's hit was pretty awesome though.

Ok, Morgan has been a major jerk and embarrassment all week. But the Marlins and Volstad were still out of line. They had already nailed him in payback for the Hayes hit (which, while it may have been dumb and over the top, was not a dirty play).

So when Volstad threw behind him, it wasn't payback for Hayes. It was payback for Morgan stealing a couple of bases while his team was behind.

Well, sorry, Marlins. There's no mercy rule in MLB, and the game doesn't end early because you've got a big lead. If you don't want him stealing, do a better job of holding him on. Or throw him out. Or don't put him on in the first place.

Would've been a different story if the Nats had had the big lead. But that wasn't the case.

I have to admit to being a little surprised by some of what's been written in this thread.

First, I agree that Morgan has issues. He earned his 7 game suspension, and it should be extended due to this incident. However, to say it should be extended by a factor of 10 is ridiculous.

They threw behind him for trying to steal bases when his team was down by 11. They threw behind him because he stole two bases after being hit by a purpose pitch. I have news for you. If my team is down by 11, and I have a good basestealer get on base, I'm sending him. I want my team to fight (figuratively speaking), even when it is down by 11 - especially if it's only the 4th inning. In regards to stealing after being hit by a purpose pitch; that's exactly what I want my guy to do - make them pay for it. Doing it that way is better than taking aim at another player with another purpose pitch.

As for the "awesome" Marlins announcers; I thought they were a complete joke with some of their comments. Saying a guy deserves to be hit for stealing a couple of bases while his team his down by 11? Really? Saying that when he was hit the first time it was done so "professionally"? Really? Just for being so smug about the whole thing is a joke.

As for Volstad. You gotta love it when a big, brave pitcher throws behind someone. Come on, if you're going to throw at someone at least be man enough to actually hit him.

That was an awesome hit by the Marlins 1B.

Pat Listach does deserve to be suspended - a coach just can't do that.

Again, his team was down by 11, not up by 11. Throwing at someone for that is bush league.

What these two said. Unwritten rules are bunk. If it's a rule, write it down. If not, shut up about it.

[NewMarketSean]

The unwritten rule of not stealing when you are down by 10 is completely wrong. Stealing when up by 10 I can see, but when you are down by 10? In the 4th inning? Just last week the Rockies came back from a 10-1 deficit in the 4th inning to beat the Braves. So now the Nationals should just give up down 10 in the 4th? What a crock.

Morgan may have issues and may be a little dirty but the Marlins were wrong here, 100%

[Mackus]

The unwritten rule of not stealing when you are down by 10 is completely wrong. Stealing when up by 10 I can see, but when you are down by 10? In the 4th inning? Just last week the Rockies came back from a 10-1 deficit in the 4th inning to beat the Braves. So now the Nationals should just give up down 10 in the 4th? What a crock.

Agreed. That's not even an unwritten rule. Teams don't stop stealing when they are down big because of an unwritten rule. They stop stealing because its utterly stupid from a strategy perspective to do so when down by that much.

They shouldn't have hit him again, unless he did or said something on the bases besides stealing them to irk the Marlins further, which I think is extremely probable.

I think Listach should be suspended for the remainder of the season if not fired, you just can't do that to a player when you're a coach.

[Goop]

The unwritten rule of not stealing when you are down by 10 is completely wrong. Stealing when up by 10 I can see, but when you are down by 10? In the 4th inning? Just last week the Rockies came back from a 10-1 deficit in the 4th inning to beat the Braves. So now the Nationals should just give up down 10 in the 4th? What a crock.

Morgan may have issues and may be a little dirty but the Marlins were wrong here, 100%

Yeah I agree with this too. I could understand if the Nats were up by 11, but where does it say you give up if your team is down by a certain number of runs? I would hope you would still try to fight your way back.

That being said I think Morgan is a first class ass clown. He's done some pretty stupid things recently.

[Miller192]

Agreed. That's not even an unwritten rule. Teams don't stop stealing when they are down big because of an unwritten rule. They stop stealing because its utterly stupid from a strategy perspective to do so when down by that much.

They shouldn't have hit him again, unless he did or said something on the bases besides stealing them to irk the Marlins further, which I think is extremely probable.

I think Listach should be suspended for the remainder of the season if not fired, you just can't do that to a player when you're a coach.

I agree here. They hit Morgan with a pitch and he decided to take advantage of it. Don't hit him if you handle him on the bases. They should've thrown behind him the first time.

[Arthur_Bryant]

Its one of those famous unwritten rules in baseball is not to run when up or down by that much.

No it isn't. There is no unwritten rule that you're supposed to lay down and roll over when you fall way behind.

I was at a game in SF last week where the Giants scored 10 in a row after falling behind 10-1 to the Reds. It was one most engrossing games I've seen in a long time, and it never would have happened if the Giants had rolled over.

[Moose Milligan]

Morgan is a complete jack-hole. Both of his run-ins with the catchers have not been warranted. He says he's trying to be hard-nosed, but when you are intentionally trying to hurt people than it's time for baseball to take care of things. Add in his complete disrespect for the fans, and this guy should get a "rest of the season" suspension.

As for throwing at him for stealing two bases while down by 11, I bet there's more to that story. I bet he probably said something to someone that got back to Volstad and he took care of business again, althbough I agree he should have at least hit him, and not thrown behind him.

Regardless, Morgan is certainly the MLB jack-hole of the year. I feel bad for the Nats fans who were riding high then came the Strasburg injury and now Morgan's actions are a black eye.

I didn't see a HUGE problem with him barrelling over the catcher like he did. I mean, the throw could come in and the catcher could turn while Morgan is in the batters box and tag him out. Running him over like that nixes any chance of the catcher receiving the throw and making a close play at the plate where the umpire could blow it. I can see why others thought it was out of line though.

The other incident was unwarranted and stupid.

For the Jack-Hole of the year they should have a jacket like they do at the Masters. I'd like to see Milton Bradley help put it on.

[Tony-OH]

I didn't see a HUGE problem with him barrelling over the catcher like he did. I mean, the throw could come in and the catcher could turn while Morgan is in the batters box and tag him out. Running him over like that nixes any chance of the catcher receiving the throw and making a close play at the plate where the umpire could blow it. I can see why others thought it was out of line though.

The other incident was unwarranted and stupid.

For the Jack-Hole of the year they should have a jacket like they do at the Masters. I'd like to see Milton Bradley help put it on.

They could have a picture of Albert Belle in the breast pocket, it would be awesome.

Going to have to disagree with you on the barreling into the catcher thing. No way that was necessary on that play. I've played a lot of baseball and there are certainly times when the catcher should be barreled into. When he's on the other side of the plate and the throw is not even there yet and a slide actually would have made the play less close, it's dumb and unnecessary. 99% of the players in baseball would have slid. Jack-hole here found it as an opportunity to put some damage on another player.

I still think there's more behind the second beaning attempt then the Marlins being upset over him stealing bases down by 11. Like others have said, there's no unwritten rule not to steal when down by that much, just when up by that much. Knowing this jack-hole something else was said or done while he was stealing the bases or in the dugout afterwards.

[Dipper9]

I agree with poster 1970- what people are saying in here is just as classless as anything that went on. Young man has temper issues- but the Marlins know this- and throwing behind him after already intentionally hitting him is obviously going to insite (sp) the temper issues to go over the edge.

If its an unwritten rule not to steal two bases down 11, I think that rule goes a little out the door when that person was intentionally hit by the pitch. And if its an unwritten rule that you shouldnt be stealing down 11, you also should not be plunking people just because you are up 11.

So because Morgan has temper issues, the Marlins were wrong for inciting him? Am I reading this correctly? Is this like the girl who gets assaulted and people say she deserved it because of the way she was dressed? This is utterly ridiculous! This is the problem with our society today, NOBODY takes responsibility or accountability for anything they do. Its always someone else's fault! Whether the Marlins should have thrown at him a second time or not is neither here nor there...it was Morgan who incited the riot, and it is Morgan who needs to get his anger management in check. I agree with the others...suspend this guy for the rest of the year!

And just to be fair, there are some Marlins who need some unpaid time off as well!

[Mackus]

There probably isn't any way to know this, but has any player ever charged the mound while currently having a suspension against him that is waiting appeal?

I know Selig is a complete pushover, but he's got to at least go a little bit Goodell here.

[bOhs01]

In the video you could see him chirping to the 2nd baseman and the 3rd baseman after he stole the base so i'm sure that got back to Volstad. And if they are down by 11 and he's stealing 2nd and 3rd like that then if i'm the team in the lead i break the unwritten rule and continue to run on them and pour it on to make sure they know they are done.

[ChaosLex]

I don't really care about him stealing bases. I just think he's a [expletive deleted].

[bOhs01]

I don't really care about him stealing bases. I just think he's a [expletive deleted].

Agree'd. His actions towards the fans after being pummeled in the brawl prove just that.