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Torii Hunter Hissyfit

Last night was ridiculous. Did Bud Norris purposefully hit Torii Hunter with a 94-MPH fastball, after Ian Kinsler effectively put the game away with a 2-run home run in the the top of the 8th?

Maybe.

That’s all I’ve got – maybe. Norris is a fiery guy. A competitive guy. An aggressive guy. It’s possible that his frustration got away with him. Frustration that his lineup was wasting 7.2 quality innings from Norris. Frustration that he missed with a pitch in the previous at-bat, and Kinsler put it in the seats. Frustration that he was pitching his heart out, and like sometimes happens. the baseball gods were silent.

Sometimes pitchers take matters into their own hands, and exact some revenge with a fastball. But I don’t think that’s what happened last night. Not because of my orange-colored-glasses, and not because what followed from Hunter was crazytown. Consider:

  • Watch Norris’ reaction when he hit Hunter. He was upset he missed.
  • Command is a fair question. Norris was up over 100 pitches, and had missed his last spot bad enough that Kinsler got a letter-high pitch to drive into the seats.Hunter was in on the plate. Norris pitched inside.
  • Hunter is followed in the lineup by the best hitter in baseball. Why hit someone to get to Miguel Cabrera?

HunterHit1

What followed was just silly. Torii Hunter lost control of himself. I understand being upset over being drilled by a fastball. I’m sure it hurt. I’m sure it was frustrating that he viewed it as retribution for the home run. But what he did escalated an ugly situation into an unsafe one. He took the long walk to first, by way of the infield grass. He jawed to the point where the benches cleared. He took it personally, then he made it personal. Threatening to “whoop [Norris’] ass” on live TV didn’t look good. Especially when it came after the dust had cleared, and Norris was headed back to the dugout.

The umpires apparently ejected Norris for hitting him. That wasn’t clear to anyone (considering Norris remained in the dugout through the remainder of the inning) because of Hunter’s theatrics. The event took a backseat to the How Dare You Hit Torii Hunter Show, starring Torii Hunter.

 

I may have gone a little overboard on Twitter. What can I say? I wear righteous indignation well.

 

So here’s where the rubber meets the road: how would I respond to all this if the roles were reversed? How would I feel if one of the pitches that were up and in to Nick Markakis or Manny Machado had made contact – particularly after a game-deciding HR? The answer is not much different: righteous indignation. But I wouldn’t be very proud of my guy for acting like an idiot. Especially a veteran like Hunter. I’d be using this space to beat him up for embarrassing himself, and the Orioles, and me. I’d be screaming that he had put his teammates at risk for the rest of the series, and all because of his pride.

Game 2 should be pretty exciting. Getcha popcorn ready. I’ll be in attendance, and I hope the entire section will join me in yelling “whoop his ass” when Hunter is at bat.

 

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