Oakland Athletics Drop Series, but Tensions Remain High with Royals
On Friday, the Oakland Athletics and the Kansas City Royals met for the first time since last year’s postseason, when the two teams battled on the field in the win-or-go-home wildcard game. Over the weekend, the battle nearly went from a baseball game to a UFC fight.
In the series opener on Friday, Brett Lawrie slid hard into second base in the seventh inning, and in the process, slid into Royals’ shortstop Alcides Escobar. On the play, Escobar suffered a left knee sprain, and Lawrie became a villain in Kansas City.
The slide could be interpreted as dirty. It was a bit of a late slide, but Lawrie is known for going 100 percent on every play. He did that on the slide, and unfortunately, it resulted in an injury.
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To say it was an intentional effort to hurt someone, or revenge, is laughable. Lawrie wasn’t even on the team during the 2014 postseason, as he was still with the Toronto Blue Jays’ roster at the time. What exactly would the slide be revenge for?
Lawrie texted Escobar on Friday night, in an attempt to apologize and make amends with the shortstop. Or at least he thought he did. Escobar claimed he never got a message from the Athletics’ third baseman, but Lawrie had the text message on his phone to prove it. Verbatim, from Susan Slusser, Lawrie sent this to Escobar:
"“Escobar, this is Brett Lawrie, man. I would never ever try to intentionally hurt you or anyone, man. I feel bad about it. I was only ever trying to break up the double play. I know you’re a big piece in KC and would never try to do anything. I just wanted to reach out to you because [Eric] Hosmer gave me your number and I hope you’re OK.”"
This is where things get weird. Escobar claims he never received a message from Lawrie. From deadspin.com, Escobar had this to say.
"“No, he don’t say nothing. I don’t hear nothing from him. Yeah, I’m surprised because when you do a guy like that you say, ‘My bad.’ He don’t say nothing. I don’t know why.”"
Lawrie had proof on his phone that he texted Escobar, or a number he thought belonged to Escobar. It’s not impossible to think that Escobar has a different number than Eric Hosmer gave to Lawrie.
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Things seemed to have been settled on Saturday, when Lawrie, who was announced to a chorus of boos every time he stepped to the plate, was plunked with a fastball from Yordano Ventura. The Athletics led 5-0 at that point, and that was the retaliation.
The fastball ran in at 99 miles per hour, and caught Lawrie right above his left elbow. Ventura was immediately ejected, to the surprise of no one, and didn’t even argue with the early shower. Lawrie took his spot at first base, and even as the dugouts and bullpens emptied, and the tension skyrocketed, Lawrie never moved from first.
That should have been the end of it. Lawrie took his beaning, didn’t react or say a word, and that should have ended this entire thing. But on Sunday, it continued.
In the first inning, A’s pitcher Scott Kazmir hit Lorenzo Cain on the foot with a pitch. Both sides were immediately warned, and Royals’ manager Ned Yost, and pitching coach Dave Eiland were both ejected. The beaning didn’t look intentional. Kazmir tried run a fastball low and inside, but ran it too far and caught Cain.
Fast forward to the eighth inning, and Kelvin Herrera is on the mound for the Royals, and Lawrie is in to take his hacks. Herrera hums a 100 mph heater behind Lawrie, and very high, and points to his head. No one really knows exactly what Herrera said, but the pointing could be interpreted a couple of different ways.
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It could be “you’re lucky that wasn’t your head,” or “next time, it’s your head,” or “think about it”. No matter what it meant, a 100 mph fastball up around the head is absolutely uncalled for. That’s a shot that could change Lawrie’s life entirely. Lawrie handled it as well as you possibly could.
Herrera should be suspended for this incident, and fined heavily. Under no circumstances should it ever come to throwing your hardest fastball near a player’s head. That’s just disgusting.
In Toronto, Lawrie was known as a hothead who let his temper get the best of him sometimes. He showed a new side of himself this weekend, not letting his emotions get in the way of better judgment.
This incident should have already been over. It should have ended on Saturday with the first retaliation. The Royals handled this poorly, whether the final beaning was called for by management, or it was Herrera’s call.
The Athletics dropped Sunday’s game, along with the three-game series. But at this point, that seems almost trivial. Lawrie is lucky to get out of Kansas City with just a bruise on his elbow.