MVN - Most Valuable Network

Tensions Flare As Rangers Win Fourth Consecutive Series

Perhaps the most infuriating aspect of the Texas Rangers’ 5-0 drubbing of the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on Thursday evening - which marked their seventh victory in nine games and quietly edged their season record to 16-20, the closest the club has been to the .500 threshold since April 19th - is that buried beneath all the commotion and pandemonium of that needless brawl, there was a very entertaining baseball game to be found.

But you’re not going to hear about that game. You’re not going to hear about Ian Kinsler’s lead-padding two-run blast, Ramon Vazquez’s fantastic 4-for-5 night at the plate or the 5.1 cumulative innings of two-hit shutout baseball recorded by the relief quartet of Franklyn German, Jamey Wright, Eddie Guardado and Frank Francisco.

You’re also not going to hear about the Rangers’ offense methodically wearing down Mariners starter Felix Hernandez and forcing him to depart after just five innings with an exorbitantly high pitch count of 112.

And that’s really, really unfortunate.

Regarding the well-publicized Kason Gabbard-Richie Sexson incident of last night, I have little doubt that this was a premeditated maneuver by Sexson, intended in part to inspire some show of life and energy from a floundering Mariners squad that currently languishes in the American League cellar at 14-22.

Losing, after all, breeds impatience and frustration, and therefore it’s probable that Sexson felt he needed to take matters into his own hands. Indeed, the only possible reason I can conjure up for Gabbard’s high, yet seemingly innocuous pitch eliciting such a violent reaction from Sexson is that he stepped to the plate not looking to reach base (which is, after all, his job), but looking for the first inside pitch that offered him a legitimate excuse to bull-rush the mound.

What’s currently riling me more than the incident itself, however, are Sexson’s post-game remarks:

“I understood the situation, but there is a right way and a wrong way to play the game,” Sexson said. “If you hit me below the shoulders, I am fine with that. I was well aware of the fact he probably was going to hit me. But get up near the face, and that’s when you start talking about careers.

“Throw a pitch up around my head, [and] I’m not going to deal with that. It’s the wrong way to play baseball. I have played the game a pretty long time. This guy can hit corners at will, and he throws one up there. How hard is it to hit me in the thigh?”

Three things:

● Does anybody honestly believe that Kason Gabbard would legitimately go headhunting with his sub-90 MPH fastball? And what, precisely, would give Sexson probable cause to assume that Gabbard was “probably going to hit [him],” rather than one of his teammates? Because I know it wasn’t his devastating offensive potential.

● Kason Gabbard walked four batters in 3.2 innings of work on Thursday evening, and has walked 13 batters in 24.1 innings this season. Is that seriously what you would call being able to “hit corners at will?”

● Who is Richie Sexson, of all people, to be lecturing anybody on the “right and wrong” ways to play baseball?

And you know, if Gabbard had indeed plunked Sexson, or had come a few inches further inside, Richie’s actions would have been largely justified. Nothing can excuse the helmet-throw, of course, but if I had felt for one second that there was any modicum of intent on Kason’s part, I would have nothing negative to say about Sexson’s initial charge.

But if there was intent on a pitch that Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram described on Friday morning as being “at least 18 inches from touching him,” then there’s really no point in ever pitching inside, is there?

Vicente Padilla faces the Mariners for the second time in a week on Monday evening at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. This ain’t over, folks.

Quick Hits: Team physician Dr. Keith Meister recommended “extended time” off for rehabbing right-hander John Patterson on Wednesday, making it unlikely that he’ll pitch for the Rangers this season. A real shame, that is.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 11:59 am and is filed under The Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.