On Tuesday night, The Dodgers and Brewers played game 2 of their 3 game series in L.A. The game got ugly quick, as the Dodgers were up by a score of 17-4. However the score was not the biggest story of the game. In the 7th inning with a man on, Manny Ramirez came up to bat, only to unintentionally get beaned in the arm by a 1-0 fastball. An inning in a half later, and with the game well out of reach, the Dodgers pen called for Guillermo Mota to take the mound. With Brewers slugger Prince Fielder at the plate, Mota retaliated by beaning Fielder in the thigh on a first pitch fastball. Which led to Fielder and Dodgers catcher Russell Martin exchanging words, with Fielder asking "WTF was that?" Mota was immediately ejected from the game.
Minutes after the lopsided affair, and with both teams in their locker room, the angry Fielder stormed his way towards the Dodgers clubhouse only to find a security guard in front of closed doors. Fielder demanded to be let in, however the security guard held his ground and refused to let Fielder pass. Teammate Ryan Braun did most of the job, by holding Fielder back from causing any further damage. The rest of the Brewer team later came to help as security called for back up to escort Prince back to the locker room. Mota and Fielder have had history together, both playing with each other on last years Brewer squad.
My whole take on the incident is, it was unnecessary in two ways. One for it being a 13 run defecit, and the other for it being in the 9th inning. However, I don't blame Fielder for his reaction. But if he really wanted to do something about it, he should have charged the mound right then and there. Whether it was unacceptable or not, I do give credit for Mota beaning him 'below' the midsection. And as I watched Wednesdays game, all I could hope for, was to see a ball get away from Broxton while Fielder was at bat. Since there hasn't been much tension flaring this season, a heavy weight bout between Broxton and Fielder would have really made up for it.
Mota was also in a similar situation during Spring Training a few seasons ago, beaning Mets catcher Mike Piazza. Piazza charged the mound, as Mota ran around the field like a little school girl. If Mota finds Piazza intimidating, I wouldn't wanna know what he thinks of Fielder, considering he's probably the biggest guy in the league. Earlier today both players received fines by Major League Baseball, but were not suspended.
Prince Fielder is seen here talking to the home plate umpire after the incident
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