Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Following the craziest scrum you’ll ever see on a baseball field, the only question that remains is whether anyone will be suspended because of what happened. The melee included Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann preventing Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez from touching home plate following his solo home run off Braves starting pitcher Paul Maholm in the top of the first inning of a 4-0 Brewers victory on Wednesday in Atlanta.
Gomez was ejected from the contest immediately after the actions that portrayed him as a five-year-old stuck in a 27-year-old’s body, along with Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman and backup catcher Gerald Laird.
I’m not going to get into why Atlanta’s players shouldn’t have been thrown out of the game — particularly Freeman — as all that is water under the bridge. What I am going to take exception to, however, is the belief some hold that the Braves’ All-Star first baseman should be suspended for his “actions” in the fracas.
I understand that third base umpire and crew chief Dana DeMuth felt that Freeman was overaggressive in moving the pile, but the fact that he said that the 24-year-old elbowed Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez when he clearly had no intention of doing so and was only trying to stop Gomez and the rest of the Milwaukee players from hurting any of his teammates is simply ludicrous.
In my eyes, all you have to do is look at Freeman’s track record to see that there is no way that he would intentionally harm another player. The guy is known for his love of passing out hugs, after all. Hugs!
And if he is given a suspension he will likely appeal and serve it at the beginning of next season if it were to be held up, which would be a huge mistake on MLB‘s part. You just don’t suspend someone who is one of the nicest guys in the league for something like what happened on Wednesday.
As for Gomez, well, his intentions were quite clear.
“I don’t apologize for this,” he told the Associated Press. “Just take the pain back. You can see the replay. They hit me for no reason (referring to Maholm hitting him with a pitch on June 23), and I tried to get it back today. It’s the only opportunity that I have. That’s what I did.”
If anyone deserves to miss some time, it’s the guy who was butt-hurt over what he said was an intentional plunking, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when you really review the tape in question.
Josh McKinney is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
Related:
Atlanta Braves’ Brian McCann is a Hero for Standing Up to Carlos Gomez
Carlos Gomez Hits Home Run, Brian McCann Prevents Him From Crossing Home Plate
Should Milwaukee Brewers’ Carlos Gomez Be Suspended For Tirade?
