Angels vs. Tigers Fiasco

If you didn't get a chance to see the highlights of the Angels-Tigers game yesterday afternoon, I strongly urge you to check it out: Angels-Tigers Recap. There were so many violations of the "unwritten" baseball rules, as you could probably tell.

It all started with a homerun by Magglio Ordonez off of Angel's ace Jered Weaver in the third inning. Magglio hit a bomb to left field right down the line. Ordonez stood at the plate, unsure if the ball would be fair or foul. Weaver thought that he was attempting to show him up, and started barking at Ordonez to start running around the bases. Magglio answered back, saying that he was unable to run faster than he was at his old age.

Then in the 7th inning, Carlos Guillen hit a no-doubt homer to right field off of Weaver again. Guillen didn't hide the fact that he was showing Weaver up, as he flipped his bat, stared down his homer, and took a few step sideways while focused on Weaver. Weaver was furious and his next pitch, which was to Alex Avila, went right over his head. He was promptly ejected and left the mound screaming at the Tigers dugout. 

I completely side with Jered Weaver on this one. He's an all-star pitcher and although Magglio probably didn't show him up, Guillen has no right to do what he did. This is a game of respect and a veteran like Guillen shouldn't take part in something so stupid. We don't see this much fire in pitchers anymore and it's good to see. Nolan Ryan would have thrown at Avila also and you'd have to think a lot of pitchers would have.

The drama in this game didn't just end there, as Justin Verlander carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning. Aybar of the Angels tried to bunt for a hit against Verlander in the eighth and reached on a throwing error by Verlander himself. It is against baseball etiquette to bunt for a hit to break up a no-hitter that late in a game, but Verlander handled it the right way. He was obviously displeased, but he told Aybar that he'd get him back next year when they see him again. Aybar was obviously just trying to get on base in a three-run ball game, but still bunting for a hit in that situation is considered "bush-league" for pitchers.

Anyways, I can't wait for the Angels-Tigers game next year. I'll definitely have that circled on my calendar, as there definitely will be retaliation. Verlander will go after Aybar, while Weaver will definitely hit Guillen.