Last Night's Yankee Brawl

If you missed these highlights from last night's Blue Jays/Yankees game in New york, check 'em out below. Here's what happened:

After two Blue Jays were plunked by Yankee pitches earlier in the game, unintentionally, Yankee catcher Jorge Posada was nearly hit by a Jesse Carlson pitch late in the game. Whether it was intentional or not is anyone's guess, but Posada took exception to the pitch, since pitchers aren't allowed to pitch inside to Yankee hitters anymore per MLB rules. (Before any of you Yankee fans who might read this fly off the handle because of this comment, please note: sarcasm alert!) This caused the benches to clear. Some finger-pointing took place, and a lot of shouting back and forth. The umpires took control of the situation, warned both teams, and Posada would eventually walk after play resumed.

The video picks up the incident from there...

Obviously, Posada was still upset with the inside pitch and threw an elbow at Carlson after he crossed home plate to score a run. Carlson was merely minding his own business; he had stopped at home plate instead of continuing to back up the play at home since the relay throw never made it that far and Posada was going to score easily on the play. After Posada threw the elbow, Carlson turned and started jawing at Posada, who then turned to go after Carlson. Home plate umpire Jim Joyce immediately tossed Posada.

Punches were thrown; players were bloodied-up. Carlson wound up with a large welt on the left side of his forehead, and Yankee manager Joe Girardi, who wound up in the middle of the pile after trying to break up the brawl, ended up with a cut on his left ear and a swollen left eye. Carlson was ejected after the melee, as well.

Now, I found nothing wrong with Carlson pitching inside when he did. Two of his teammates had already been hit by pitches, so it was only a matter of time before the Jays would send a message back to the Yankees. That's how baseball works, you hit my guys, I'm gonna hit yours, or least try and send a message with an inside pitch, which is what Carlson did. And in a blowout game, you knew it was coming.

So why then, was Posada all upset? I can only think of one reason, and this shouldn't come as a surprise. It's because he's a crybaby. Crybabies take exception to the obvious. Most other hitters would have seen that pitch coming, and let it go. But not Posada; he has a history of being a crybaby.

The best line after the game about Posada's elbow came from home plate umpire Jim Joyce.

"It was very unsportsmanlike. The pitcher wasn't looking for anything like that and he ran past him, didn't say anything and just gave him a shove with his elbow. It was a cheap shot."

I couldn't agree more, not because it was the Yankees, and not even because it was Posada. I agree with it because it was uncalled for, and there was no point in doing it. It didn't solve anything.

You can bet there will be suspensions from the league out of this. Joyce said he and his crew would take their time reviewing the tape before submitting a report the league.