Monday, April 29, 2002
Reds' streak over, but bad blood isn't
Casey fumes after getting plunked
By John Erardi, jerardi@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Suddenly, it's OK to hit 73 home runs but not OK for the opposing pitcher to try to back you off the plate.
That was the message in the Reds' 5-4 loss to the Giants before 23,426 fans on a blustery Sunday afternoon at Cinergy Field. The Reds had their seven-game winning streak snapped, despite more good starting pitching (Jimmy Haynes) and two home runs by Adam Dunn, each bringing the Reds to within a run of tying it (4-3, 5-4).
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Q U O T A B L E
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San Francisco Giants pitcher Felix Rodriguez about Sean Casey:
“Sometimes if they want to cry, you've got to let them cry.”
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All of that was reduced to subplot, however, when San Francisco Giants fireballing right-hander Felix Rodriguez retaliated for the Reds' Gabe White trying to throw inside to the home-run king, Barry Bonds, in the eighth inning. The pitch sailed over Bonds' head.
Rodriguez reciprocated by drilling the Reds' Sean Casey with a fastball that was so high and tight, it smacked Casey in the right triceps, only inches from his face as he led off the eighth inning.
“If that was a retaliation, that's pretty bad,” White said.
“You have to be able to get guys in a position where you can get 'em out,” said White, of his pitch to Bonds. “You have to pitch guys in. All of your best starters pitch in, and they pitch in hard.”
Casey, who suffered a concussion two weeks ago when he took a Robert Person fastball in his ear-flap, angrily slammed his helmet to the ground and yelled at Rodriguez. Both benches and the outfield bullpens emptied. Players milled about; no punches were thrown.
A half hour later, Casey was still livid.
“Enough is enough,” he said. “I've been hit in the head twice this year. I just got hit in the head, knocked me out cold, had a concussion. I still have a little bit inside of me. That was scary.
“I got a little kid at home and a wife. Sometimes you have to take care of things yourself.”
Heavy hitters like Bonds have been getting backed off the plate at least since 1893, when the pitching motion was changed to overhand from underhand. But Rodriguez took umbrage to the way White pitched Bonds.
“(Opposing pitchers) hit Barry last year about 10 times, and Barry never says anything to the pitchers,” Rodriguez told the Associated Press, referring to the nine times Bonds was hit overall in his 73-homer season. “Sometimes you have to take care of your hitters. We play like a team.”
Bonds declined comment after the game.
Rodriquez was throwing fastballs 90 to 96 miles an hour Sunday.
It's not public knowledge, but professional pitchers know: If you want to be absolutely certain of drilling a hitter up high — in the danger zone — throw a pitch just behind his lead shoulder. It is a pitch that can't be avoided.
Replays of the pitch from Rodriguez show the pitch headed for that target area from the get-go. Casey tried to turn away from it, but couldn't.
Casey and his wife did some serious examination about the nature of his livelihood after Casey got beaned two weeks ago. He couldn't run because his head hurt so badly; he missed four games.
“Forget the baseball part,” Casey said Sunday. “You start messing around up there, you start messing around with people's lives ... I'm not going to put up with that anymore.”
Giants manager Dusty Baker said Rodriguez wasn't trying to hit Casey, but that Bonds is on the receiving end of these sort of purpose pitches all too often.
“Nobody certainly is trying to hit Sean Casey — he's one of the most likable guys in the league,” Baker said. “He's never done anything to make you want to hit him.
“On the other hand, you've got to question the ball that went over Barry's head before that, too ... Sooner or later, you've got to stop someone from throwing at Barry.”
The 15-9 Reds, still in first place, leave tonight for a six-game road trip to the West Coast. The first game is Tuesday in Los Angeles. On Friday, the Reds begin a three-game series with the Giants. It will bear watching, given the words exchanged Sunday.
When Rodriguez was asked about the way Casey slammed down his helmet and yelled at him in reaction to being hit, Rodriguez said: “Sometimes if they want to cry, you've got to let them cry.”
Casey, who until Sunday wasn't known to have an angry bone in his 6-foot-4, 225-pound body, looked like an NFL linebacker who'd just been blind-sided when Rodriguez's remarks were relayed to him.
“If he's got a problem, (tell him to) talk to me in San Francisco,” Casey said. “Why doesn't he come over here and say that quote?”
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Reds' streak over, but bad blood isn't
