The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers were in a brawl, the first of 2013, after pitcher Zack Greinke and outfielder Carlos Quentin had a scuffle on the middle of the diamond. In case you haven't laid your eyes on the footage, here it is.
The Dodgers aren't too happy with the outcome. Their $147 million golden arm was bumped hard, so hard that he broke his left collar bone. It's not a typical baseball injury so the Dodgers are out on their investment for at least a month and a half.
What do the Dodgers want? Justice. When do they want it? Now!
Don Mattingly, the Dodgers manager, believes Quentin shouldn't be allowed to touch a baseball field until his pitcher gets back from his injury. He'll have Joe Torre, who is now Bud Selig's right-hand man, study the case and evaluate the situation.
It's never been done before, penalizing another player based on an injury they caused on another player. Nick Swisher wasn't taken out the entire season after a questionable slide against the Minnesota Twins back in 2011, but this, if you ask Mattingly or any Dodger, was uncalled for. Brawls have always been a part of the game, but maybe for the Dodgers, it could have been against somebody worth the rivalry, not the Padres who are practically a last play team with no chance of competing. Making it worse, it wasn't a fifth start on the mound for L.A., it was their recently purchased free agent whom they invested a hefty sum of money for over the offseason.
Quentin and Greinke do have a history though. This is the third time since 2008 that Greinke plunks Quentin. Quentin wasn't having and thought it was on purpose, so he rushed the mound. The drama got so built up that Matt Kemp had a personal conversation with Quentin after the game and it seem like he wanted to exchange more than words as the cops had to break up that postgame meeting.
Now for the Dodgers, they need a pitcher to step up and fill in for Greinke in his absence. Without a doubt, the Dodgers lose more. Quentin's best years were in the past. Coupled with a history of injury, Quentin is far removed from his better days where he once hit 36 home runs and drove in 100 RBI back in 2008 while batting .288. In the last three years, Quentin averaged 112 ball games, which isn't bad, but it's far from superstar status.
The Dodgers can now move back former starter, Chris Capuano into the starting rotation as the await for Greinke's recovery. Again, the timetable is a bit sketchy because broken collar bones aren't usual in baseball.