Pirates Manager responds to Randall Simon's suspension

[jfulcer]

Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon:

I'm certainly not happy with the suspension. We are playing a first-place club. We've gotten ourselves back into the race. I would like to have my first baseman in there against this team.

It's very difficult to swallow. I guess baseball thinks they need to make a statement to show they care and this is their way of doing it.

You have <i>got</i> to be kidding me! "To show that they care" taken with his other comments just drips of sarcasm.

Come on guy! Get a grip! What if a fan came up and bopped you with a baseball bat? Do you think he'd be arrested??

Geez, sometimes sports players/managers amaze me.

(read the whole article here )

 

[becka]

Does it really suprise anyone?

 

[AirForceRocks]

I can't believe that people are still whining about this - good God, the young lady that got tapped said it was no big deal. I fail to see why everyone else wants the man's head on a platter...

 

[kayeandjim00]

I can't believe that people are still whining about this - good God, the young lady that got tapped said it was no big deal. I fail to see why everyone else wants the man's head on a platter...

A 3 game suspension and a $432.00 fine is hardly his head on a platter. You would think the manager would accept it and not have those kind of comments about it. His player did something stupid and now he should take his punishment like a grown up. How hard he hit her isn't the issue, it was irresponsible of him to do it at all and he got lucky that she was so nice about it and wasn't seriously hurt.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

IMHO this incident was not worthy of a suspension but MLB felt it had to do it since a media circus was created. If I was the manager I probably would have wanted to respond the same way. The sausage got bopped. The head of the costume is weighted with sand making it easier to fall over. Perhaps the costume designer should be sued.

 

[jfulcer]

I agree, that it's much ado about something that was pretty minor, but I look at it from the standpoint as (like a previous poster said) she was lucky she didn't get hurt. She could have broken an arm very easily.

My point is that if a fan did that to a player or manager - even just a like "tap" that was enough to send that sausage overboard - they would be arrested and the managers would be creating a media circus about "how we need to protect the players and we need more security, yada yada yada". What's good for the goose should be good for the gander, or some other similar comparison.

 

[robinb]

I really don't blame the manager. Whining about suspensions is a time-honored part of baseball .

I think the suspension was right-on. He assaulted her. It doesn't matter if he hit her hard or not. Nor does it matter if she pressed charges. He took a bat to her! Players are suspended for flights, bumping the umpire, etc all the time. MLB really needs to make it clear that the mascots are off limits.

On the humorous side, this quote from another PGH player really cracked me up: "Simon let three sausages go by but got the "green light" on the fourth."

 

[JoeThaNo1Stunna]

Possibly the most overblown news story of the year. He tapped her, she didn't care, she asked for an autographed bat. He's a great guy (spent years in Richmond) and was joking around. There was no way that would seriously hurt her. It is ridiculous that anyone is mad at him.

 

[Saffron]

Does that mean I can tap President Bush with a bat and knock him down and it would be no big deal?

Hey, if you can do it to a sausage girl and it's not a big deal, you can do it to anyone, right?

 

[Poohnatic]

I think the suspension has more to do with the impressionable youth who saw the incident and might think it funny to do the same. We're all adults on here and have different views. Kids might see it and laugh. No punishment tells them that it's not a big deal. A suspension says that MLB won't tolerate the behavior.

Suzanne

 

[Wagamama]

is this still about the sausage girl?

 

[jfulcer]

Originally posted by JoeThaNo1Stunna
was joking around. There was no way that would seriously hurt her. It is ridiculous that anyone is mad at him.

I'd be interested to know what you would do if you were at a picnic and someone from another picnic site came over, joked around, and knocked you over with a bat (even if you only scraped your knee). How would you feel?

<b>
Complete Stranger: BOP (with a bat on Joe's head)

Joe: (falls down and scrapes knee)

Complete Stranger: "Oh, Sorry, I was just joking around."

Joe: "Well, as long as you were just joking around, I suppose it's ok. Have a good day!"
</b>

 

[Steve H.]

Originally posted by jfulcer
I'd be interested to know what you would do if you were at a picnic and someone from another picnic site came over, joked around, and knocked you over with a bat (even if you only scraped your knee). How would you feel?

<b>
Complete Stranger: BOP (with a bat on Joe's head)

Joe: (falls down and scrapes knee)

Complete Stranger: "Oh, Sorry, I was just joking around."

Joe: "Well, as long as you were just joking around, I suppose it's ok. Have a good day!"
</b>

If I was wearing a giant sausage costume and the bat tapped the head of the costume (which was a foot or more from my actual head), yeah, I'd think it was probably funny.

The whole impressionable youth argument is a little hard to swallow -- does anyone think that kids are now going to go around beating up giant sausages??

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I have to agree with Steve. There is a "relationship" between mascots and players even if they never met before. I swear some people have never been to a sporting event and have not witnessed the interaction between mascots and players. Take the San Diego Chicken's antics as an example.

 

[JAP]

Originally posted by Saffron
Hey, if you can do it to a sausage girl and it's not a big deal, you can do it to anyone, right?

Good point! I would like to see the reaction of some of the mom's here if that were their child in that costume!

I agree it should not have become a media circus, however, fighting the suspension is not worth the effort. The manager should let it go. His player was/is an idiot. I am sure this will not be the last time that guy hits someone.


EDITED: Just read Steve's reply...it is not that kids are going to go around hitting sausages but I do believe it sends a bad message.

I did not think it looked as though the whole thing was a joke. It looked as though the guy was truly aggrivated and took a swing. Not a good way to deal with anger on the baseball field. But then again, this is sports, specifically baseball and men we are talking about!

 

[AirForceRocks]

Good point! I would like to see the reaction of some of the mom's here if that were their child in that costume!

You mean if my ADULT child were tapped while running in a sausage costume, resulting in a scraped knee and a giggle from daughter?

I'd think it was no big deal.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

If that had been my daughter I would have reminded her that she assumed such risks by taking a job like that. But let's remember the girl didn't cause a stink. All she wanted was an autographed bat. Now that is hilarious in my opinion and shows her sense of humor (which you must have to have dressing up as a sausage).

 

[jfulcer]

Originally posted by Miss Jasmine
I have to agree with Steve. There is a "relationship" between mascots and players even if they never met before. I swear some people have never been to a sporting event and have not witnessed the interaction between mascots and players. Take the San Diego Chicken's antics as an example.

I've been to numerous Milwaukee Brewers games and have seen numerous runnings of the sausage race. To this date, this is the <i>only</i> time I have seen a player hitting a mascot with a bat, or even interfering with the race for that matter. I'd really like to know what kind of "relationship" allows complete strangers to hit each other with bats.

Zany antics aside, how many fans/players have hit the San Diego Chicken with a bat?

Originally posted by Steve H.
If I was wearing a giant sausage costume and the bat tapped the head of the costume (which was a foot or more from my actual head), yeah, I'd think it was probably funny.

And the girl (and her parents) thought it was funny too. I think it's funny also. I'm not argueing that. My point is that it very easily could become 'not funny' if she fell and broke and arm or ankel or such. People break bones doing less.

My whole point in posting this is because I thought it was inappropriate to do it, and even more sad for the manager to be upset that his player was punished for doing it.

 

[Steve H.]

I don't disagree that it was a stupid thing for Simon to do and that yes, it could have resulted in a more serious injury. IMO, the suspension was a little overboard, but after all the hype that the story generated, MLB didn't really have much of a choice. McClendon should have just kept his mouth shut, that's true too.

It's the responses that are trying to make this incident into this horrific, life-altering event that's going to turn everyone into bat-wielding psychos that I don't understand. Some people are acting as if Simon stood over top of the mascot and beat it to death after it fell. It was a dumb move, intended (as far as I could tell) to be harmless goofing around with the mascot -- not an incident worthy of America's Most Wanted.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Okay the San Diego Chicken pulls down a player'spants. The player falls over. Funny or not? Could it have resulted in the player getting hurt? Do you realize that could be considered a battery as well?

I do think it was a stupid thing for the player to do. But I also think the manager felt the need to speak out. Look at how the manager always goes to "bat" for his players when the player disagrees with a call. I guess it's the same sort of thing. Should he have just kept his mouth shut? Yes, but he didn't.