Okay, this story is sort of dumbfounding. It seems that in the middle of a rare Yankee loss that featured a triple play and another good outing from an up and coming pitcher named Dallas Braden, Alex Rodriguez (who always seems to be in the middle of this type of story) was the front end of a double play ball that ended the Yankees' inning. After being forced out at second, A-Rod jogged toward his position at third. That's when Dallas Braden, that up and coming pitcher, let him have it.
It seems Braden felt that A-Rod had broken some sort of unwritten rule earlier (after a foul ball when A-Rod crossed the mound on the way back to first), that apparently states that the batting team will not step on the pitching mound while the other team is occupying it. Well, okay. The Fan has been watching the game for more than four decades and has never heard that one before. So Braden gets all pissed off (you can read the story and find the video link here) and starts barking to A-Rod. The video clearly shows Braden's lips saying something to the effect of, "Stay off my @#@@#% mound." A-Rod can be clearly seen looking at Braden as if to say, "Whuh?"
Then Braden kicks a bunch of stuff in the dugout and throws his glove and stuff. Rob Neyer's take on the whole thing was that the Yankees will just shrug that stuff off because they are too good not to, but the A's should be really impressed with the fire of the young 26 year old pitcher. Well, okay again. Mr. Neyer is usually someone who is dead on with stuff, but this is just silly.
First of all, what the heck is the big deal? It's akin to the Fan yelling at the Fan's wife for hanging one of her shirts on his side of the closet. That would be kind of goofy, no?
Secondly, Braden may be good and he may be staking a claim in the league, but he's clearly nothing more than a mere babe in the woods as far as the major leagues go. He doesn't have the juice or the status to be challenging an established player on his own team let alone a superstar like A-Rod. The Fan may be cited here for favoritism, but the reaction would have been the same if it was any other team or any other player that Braden lit into.
Perhaps if the Fan was the captain of the Yankees, he would have his entire team cross the mound the next time they face Braden. But that would be kind of childish. So would hitting another Oakland batter just because Braden got upset about such a stupid little thing. The best course for the Yankees would be to ignore it an go about their business being the overpaid brutes of the AL East. Yeah, that's the best call.
As for the A's, is this something that fires the A's up like Mr. Neyer would suggest? If the Fan was playing for the A's, the reaction here would be, "WTF Braden?" Or similarly, "Oh that's good, Braden, the Yankees aren't already good enough, you have to give them extra motivation?"
The Fan loves his little dog. He's a cute little thing that has become the mascot of our home and he's like our child. Every day, the Fan takes him for several walks around the yard to do his thing. Every time the dog sniffs something he isn't sure about, he pees on that spot just to say that it's his. Now this is quite stupid really because for one, he's a small little dog and if a moose or a bear or a dear or any other dog wants to blunder through the yard, the Fan's little dog isn't going to be able to do anything about it. It's a dumb instinctual thing. But he's a dog. And dog's are stupid. Braden has basically done the same thing here. It's just a pitching mound for gosh sakes. Get over yourself.
Who knows, the Fan could be out in left field somewhere and not know there is really some sort of unwritten code about this sort of thing. Perhaps if the Fan learns that such a thing exists, then Braden would have some sort of beef. But then again, even if there was an unwritten code, the Fan thinks much of those codes are silly or stupid anyway. A-Rod probably wasn't even thinking about what he was doing. We all know that these adults are playing a child's game. But that doesn't mean they have to act like they are one.
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