The consequences of Porcello's exit
In a division race I have always thought the Tigers would lose at the very end of September -- hate to be negative in the view of Tigers fans but I can't help the gut feeling -- it's tough to believe Tuesday night's fireworks at Fenway Park won't somehow loom large.
That's because the Tigers ended up yielding a big game in the standings to the White Sox on a night when they didn't figure to lose ground.
And that's why Rick Porcello's departure after hitting Kevin Youkilis, which ended up being a smooth move by Youkilis in that he got Porcello out of the game, needs to be explained by the Tigers.
Was Porcello acting independently of orders from the dugout? Did the pitch, truthfully, get away from him? Did the ire of Jim Leyland and the Tigers at Miguel Cabrera getting hit cause them to lose not only Cabrera -- but Porcello?
The Tigers obviously need to be mindful of what personnel they stand to lose when the retaliation game is played. Wasn't it enough to have sent Victor Martinez into a backstep an inning earlier after Porcello clearly menaced him with an inside pitch?
That's why the "no comment" stuff afterward doesn't often work. It's better to deal with information and accountability. And that was pretty much lacking last night, save for Youkilis admitting that it was a dumb thing on his part to have charged the mound.
Well, dumb in the sense he may be getting a few days of unwanted vacation. But smart in that he set things up niftily for Porcello to turn over a winnable ballgame to Chris Lambert.
The subsequent Red Sox victory was all but guaranteed at that point.
Leyland and Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who are otherwise friends, had an interesting and animated conversation after the fracas that led to Youkilis and Porcello exiting. It wouldn't hurt to know what each side was saying, given the public nature of the skirmish and their conversation.
I don't like misinformation. I don't like information vacuums during a public event. I think Leyland needs to talk a bit more expansively about what happened -- and acknowledge that the manager really blew it, if, in fact, Porcello was acting in any way in concert with the dugout's wishes when he plunked Youkilis.
That was a big game. And it was a stupid game to have turned over to the Red Sox, if, in fact, that's what happened when a kid pitcher threw a bad (dumb?) pitch that an older player should have responded to in more constrained fashion.
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Porcello's exit: you're a joke
Are you serious? You're criticizing Leyland for not saying if he told one of his pitchers to throw at a batter? Why doesn't he just write a blank check to MLB's central office? I don't see what good can come from the manager opening up to the public about this. I also can't believe you seem to think it's part of his job to disclose what he said to Francona. Leyland's only obligation is to coax as much productivity as possible out of his players. If he does that I don't care if he says another word to the media all season. You don't like "information vacuums during a public event." How lazy are you? I'm a reporter, and I say it's a reporter's job to gather information. If you want to know, get out of your chair and find out what they said. Give us an interesting story, not your spoiled whining.
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