Did Joe Girardi Cause Brawl?

If there was one thing I didn't want to see already, it was Joe Girardi mis-handling a situation. Joe Torre seemingly never had a bad read on a situation, so he always knew what to say to the media. I had a feeling Girardi would slip up in his media handling, I just didn't expect it so soon.

Let's go over Girardi's problem with a hard collision at home in spring training. I was pretty surprised to hear those words coming from Joe Girardi. The same Joe Girardi that played a hard-nosed brand of baseball his entire career. I am a big fan of the new Yankees manager, but I really believe that he was wrong for speaking out on this. I understand that a young catcher had his wrist broken, but there is more to consider in this situation. The no-name on the Rays (Elliot Johnson) must play hard in spring training... it's all he has. The spring is the only time he'll get to prove he can cut it in the show. If he didn't go all out on that play, and got thrown out, he probably would've found a red tag in his locker upon returning to the clubhouse. A player like Elliot Johnson must make good on every opportunity to have an impact. It's not like his hit was illegal. It was a good, clean hit, and Girardi of all people should have realized that. I think Joe was just upset because a young kid got injured, leading to an emotional response in the media. When will people learn that emotional reactions and the NY media make for a deadly combination?

Moving on to yesterday's brawl. I think that the tone set fourth by Girardi led to the altercation. Speaking from experience, when the manager of a baseball team makes statements in public, it is usually the tip of the iceberg. Recently, there have been a number of outbursts at podiums and so on, but those are rare cases. Most times, head coaches and managers save up all that yelling and screaming for the clubhouse. It's my belief that Girardi had quite a bit to say about retaliation prior to yesterday's rematch with the Rays. It was clear that there was an edge in the personality of the Yankees in round 2. Shelley Duncan has every right to be upset that his teammate was injured, they're probably even friends from Duncan's minor league days. But Duncan's slide was ludicrous. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it for the first time... if you haven't seen the slide, let me paint a picture. Shelley is pretty clearly going to be thrown out trying to leg out a double. He approaches the bag, the throw comes in to Akinori Iwamuri (Rays' infielder). Realizing he's dead to rights, Duncan basically jump kicks as he "slides". Fact is his spikes were up to Iwamuri's waist, and he was tossed immediately for it. Standing up for your team is one thing, but Shelley was retaliating for an injury, not a dirty play. I think we should ask the injured catcher if he thinks the hit was dirty. I'll bet as he was awaiting the throw, he wasn't saying to himself; "Don't worry, its spring training. He won't hit me." In fact, I'm certain he expected the hit, as all catchers are trained to do.

It's unfortunate that a clean play led to a brawl, but it takes two to tango. If you know me, you have probably heard me say that I think Johnny Gomes is a steroid user. He came out of nowhere, putting up solid HR totals, and weighing in at 225lbs of muscle. I think he saw Duncan's slide and blew a fuse. Steroids are the only way I can explain the right fielder starting a brawl at second base. It was either 'roid rage, or baseball players really aren't as smart as they used to be.

I will say that I'm happy to see some fire from the Yankees, but I think I would've enjoyed Joe Torre's reaction to the broken wrist on this one. A calm, rational response from an old-time ball player was appropriate here... in my opinion at least. As for the question posed in the title of this post, I do believe that Girardi played a role in instigating this incident.