Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado ignited a benches-clearing confrontation with the Oakland A’s on Sunday after he accidentally-on purpose chucked his bat into the field as a response to being buzzed by a pair of inside pitches from reliever Francisco Abad.
Machado made the “it slipped” motion with his palms (and professed his innocence after the game), but the A’s weren’t buying it — and neither was umpire Larry Vanover.
“The first time you have some doubt, but the second time there was no doubt he threw at him,” Vanover said, according to MLB.com. “And then he threw the bat. That wasn’t accidental.”
[mlbvideo id=”33552351″ width=”680″ height=”400″ /]
Tempers flared, and the teams scrummed for the second time during the weekend three-game series. On Friday, Machado didn’t like the force of a tag by Oakland third baseman Josh Donaldson and the two had to be separated. Alberto Callaspo was at third Sunday when Machado launched his stick in that direction. Earlier Sunday, Machado struck catcher Derek Norris in the head with his backswing and skipped typical baseball etiquette by not asking Norris if he was OK.
“It got pretty intense there for a while,” Oakland catcher John Jaso said. “There is a certain respect you have to have for this game. … I think guys like that need to be taught a lesson because there’s millions of other people that would love to have the spot that he has.”
Though such a situation is rare, Machado is far from the first player to use the bat as a weapon. Here are other notable incidents in baseball history involving bat violence:
Roger Clemens
[mlbvideo id=”20053773″ width=”680″ height=”400″ /]
During his first at-bat of Game 2 of the 2000 World Series at Yankee Stadium, Mike Piazza was jogging toward first base after hitting a foul ball, when Clemens picked up a piece of Piazza’s shattered bat and hurled it at the Mets catcher, nearly hitting him. Piazza, who had been beaned by Clemens earlier in the season, confronted the Yankees pitcher, who would later say he thought the barrel of the bat he picked up was the ball.
“He just picked up the bat and winged it,” umpire crew chief Ed Montague said. “It was just an emotional deal that built over the months.”
Delmon Young
Young was a former No. 1 overall pick and a top prospect with Tampa Bay in 2006 when he was suspended 50 games for throwing his bat at an umpire, who was hit in the arm. Young had been called out on a third strike in the first inning of a Triple-A game, and was ejected after arguing with the replacement umpire, prompting the throw.
“Fifty is a fair amount, and I’m going to serve it and then I’ll be back on the ballfield,” Young said at the time. “No, I really don’t think I have anger management issues. I’m competitive. I just let the emotions get a little better than me sometimes. I’ve got to control that.”
Jose Offerman
Offerman, a long-time major leaguer who made two All-Star appearances, was playing for the Long Island Ducks in 2007 in an attempt to work his way back to the big leagues. Instead, his career came to a close after he charged the mound with his bat after getting hit by a pitch, and swung the bat at least twice, hitting the opposing pitcher and catcher.
“It was one of those moments that you want to forget. I lost it for about 10 seconds,” Offerman told the Connecticut Post. “That’s what happened to me. I didn’t have any intentions and I feel sorry for what happened and the way it happened.”
Bert Campaneris
In Game 2 of the 1972 ALCS, the A’s shortstop hurled his bat at Detroit pitcher Lerrin LaGrow after Campaneris was hit in the ankle by a pitch. LaGrow ducked just in time, to avoid getting hit in the head with the bat. Tigers manager Billy Martin attempted to go after Campaneris, but was restrained by several umpires. Campaneris was suspended the rest of the series and for seven games in the 1973 season, but played in the World Series win over the Reds.
Juan Marichal
On Aug. 22, 1965, one of the most famous brawls in baseball history came during a pennant race between two of the game’s fiercest rivals — the Giants and Dodgers. After Marichal had thrown near Dodgers leadoff hitter Maury Wills, Roseboro, who was catching for the Dodgers, began throwing balls back to pitcher Sandy Koufax very close to the face of Marichal when he was hitting.
After one throw grazed the side of his head, Marichal hit a helmet-less Roseboro in the head with his bat, which required 14 stitches and ignited a 14-minute brawl. Marichal would be suspended for eight days and fined $1,750.