Let me take a moment to explain the only thing that seemed truly odd to me about the Quentin/Greinke dust-up last night. In watching baseball for over 20 years, I've seen my share of brawls. Hitters getting angry about a pitch that may NOT have been intentional - not strange. Seen that plenty. Pitchers having a bit too much bravado on the mound once the hitter gets hit - not strange either. But something was strange about it.
What happens when a hitter decides he wants to charge the mound? Usually he either A) takes off running immediately toward the pitcher or B) plays it off by walking up the first base line for a moment THEN sees the opportunity to go. Why is this? It's because it's the catcher always gets between him and the pitcher. That's his job. Nobody else in the diamond is close enough.
When a pitcher sees a ground ball to his left, he what?
Runs to first to cover.
When a catcher sees the batter get hit and then take a step toward the pitcher, he what?
Gets between the hitter and pitcher.
With most brawls I've seen in baseball there's usually something out of place, and in this one, the only one I can see is A.J. Ellis failing miserably to protect his pitcher. Frankly I'm not a big fan of Quentin the personality, he seems overly "red assed" for a guy that can't seem to stay on the field. If he's that tough, then why can't he tough out some knee pain, that's how my thinking goes but nobody else knows how it feels.
Anyway, two points.
1) AJ Ellis's actions prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that Greinke never intended to hit him. The catcher would know if there was any remote possibility of hitting the batter and would be ready to defend the pitcher unless the batter ran toward the pitcher immediately.
2) Ellis could have prevented this. His teammates had to have lost a little respect for him after this.
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