FIGHT!!

i have several things to say about the Sox-Rays brawl last night:

1. Coco probably should have just taken what he got & gone to first because there's no doubt it was coming. but he didn't. was the fact that Pedroia got hit as well part of why Coco lost it? i don't know. part of me thinks he should have just sucked it up & part of me thinks he did what he had to do. i would have had a bigger issue if Pedroia had charged the mound, i think.

2. there is never any reason for five grown men to be punching one man who is pinned down, barring unspeakable acts. i think the Rays had every right to tackle Coco. but five of them pounding away on him once he was on the ground? no way. ok, maybe Iwamora, but Crawford? Gomes? Navarro? inexcusable. and yes, i would feel the same way if it were reversed. five on one is pure cheap shot (unless the one is Chuck Norris -- heh!).

3. i think Coco needs a suspension. he needs some time to cool off. and he needs to take the punishment he gets & shut up now. but i also think there are several Rays that need a suspension as well for the way they conducted themselves during the fight. additionally, i do think DeMarlo Hale also needs a suspension for taking Shields down & he probably *should* have been ejected last night.

4. Joe Maddon is a hypocrite. if this situation was reversed, he would be making all kinds of excuses. and as i recall, he was perfectly fine with his players sliding in "hard" during Spring Training -- and when the Yankees catcher suffered a broken bone, he was pretty flippant with "oh well, these things happen" attitude.

5. thank your lucky stars if you were not subjected to the torture that was the Rays tv announcers last night. they were insufferable. they totally condoned the Rays actions last night, couldn't understand why any of their players would get ejected, and took great pleasure in replaying the clip of Coco being beaten down by an entire gang, over & over. later on, when Manny & Youk got into a little dugout scuffle (too much adrenaline in everyone last night, i think), they had the audacity to say "even his own teammates want to hit Youkilis" and then when Youk was hit by a pitch went as far as to say "Manny worked that out with Reyes to hit Youk as a message". i would be willing to bet there are several members of the Rays who would like to lay Carl Crawford out cold. probably Maddon too. and Jonny Gomes, purely on principle, because seriously? Jonny?? that's as bad as Jhonny Peralta. it's not like it's that difficult to spell 'Johnny' correctly. =P these are the same morons who claimed, Tuesday night, that the Pesky Pole is named that because it's pesky -- as in annoying & difficult. and also called Don Orsillo 'Danny Orsillilio' and 'Don Orsillio'.

6. kinda concerned about the health of the team here. Papi already sidelined. Ellsbury with a strained wrist. Manny with a bad hamstring. stop the madness!

7. for the record, i have now gone more than two weeks without a Remy & Don fix. i got stuck with Rays coverage for the last three games. i will be away this weekend so i won't see the games. that leaves me three games in three weeks of the RemDawg & Don-O before the Sox are back on the road. this is inhumane, folks! oh & the clip of Remy & Don fighting in their booth last night? cracked.me.up.

8. i am thinking that the "wild pitch" that got away from Lestah & hit Crawford? probably not so much a mistake. ;-)

9. most bizarre moment of the game: Sean Casey in the middle of that fight.

10. i am really glad JD Drew kind of kept to the perimeter of the brawl. with all the injuries & the fact that he's finally hitting again, not mention seems to have figured out the tricky Fenway right field, the last thing he needs to is get hurt. Lord knows he doesn't need any help there. ;-)

so the Sox sweep & sit back on top of the AL East. and hopefully they will have chilled out our attitudes for this next series because it would be nice to do the same to Seattle (sweep that is, not brawl) after we humiliated ourselves on that West Coast trip. i'll be curious to see what suspensions & fines are levied, not to mention who has enough working body parts left to play. and while i am presently unwilling to write off Coco as a bad guy just yet, based on the fact that he's not been a problem to this point, ask me again if this bologna keeps up.