Yankees: It was more like a Debutante Ball than a Brawl

The New York Yankees, over the years, have been involved in their share of certifiable brawls on the baseball field. But the one that occurred yesterday in Detroit was more like a dance than a brawl. Moreover, it was an indication the team lost its focus on the real fight they’re involved in.

The New York Yankees, if anyone was resting under a rock, were involved in a “dispute” yesterday with the Detroit Tigers. Unfortunately, it had nothing to do with hitting a baseball so, instead, the Yankees decided to hit a larger target, Miguel Cabrera. And then, all hell broke loose.

Getting hit by a pitch is part of baseball, and almost always the batter shakes it off and trots down to first base, maybe glancing towards the pitcher just to say, “I’m still here, idiot.” And typically, the players on both sides resume control of the game before the umpires have to, and play continues with no further incidents.

Except, in this case, neither the players or the umpires managed to control the game. Blame the umpires for not warning both benches when Tiger’s pitcher Michael Fulmer drilled Gary Sanchez on his next at-bat after hitting his 27th home run of the season.

Here’s the entire incident, including interviews with all of the actors (10:45).

So, as you can see, the “brawl” was more of a shoving match, and few punches were landed. Of more relevance, though, the event added a half-hour to a game the Yankees were sleepwalking through up until this point.

Instead of a sweep of the Tigers, the Yankees pitching staff surrendered ten runs in a loss that was salvaged only by the Red Sox, Royals, Twins, and Angels all losing themselves leaving the team 4.5 games behind the Red Sox and 3.5 games up in the Wild Card race.

But if you want to see a real brawl, watch Darryl Strawberry, who was raised in the gang infested neighborhoods of Compton, California take on all comers after the beloved, Tino Martinez was drilled by Armando Benitez.

And here’s another one between Alex Rodriguez and Jason Varitek which drew some blood in 2004. Bleacher Report summarizes the incident from a story they published in 2103.

"“If you’re a Yankee fan, you remember what occurred on July 24, 2004. The brawl goes down as one of the most significant and nasty in the history of the rivalry.It began in the third inning when Alex Rodriguez was hit by a Bronson Arroyo high and inside fastball. Rodriguez immediately starting cursing at Arroyo, then directed his verbal abuse at the Red Sox catcher, Jason Varitek.A shoving match turned into punches and the skirmish escalated into a team-on-team brawl.Kevin Millar and Trot Nixon decided to throw a few punches at Yankees starting pitcher Tanyon Sturtze, which resulted in a bloodied ear. The dust settled and there were no major injuries during the scuffle.The Red Sox would win the game 11-10."

Takeaways From Yesterday

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How the incident affected the outcome of the game is hard to gauge. But the fact is the Yankees missed a golden opportunity to gain ground on all contenders against a Tiger’s team who showed some life while merely playing the string out.

Re-focusing on the real prize

The series against the Seattle Mariners beginning tonight at Yankee Stadium has the same aura as the one with the Tigers. The Mariners are a team the Yankees should beat handsomely, and a sweep of the three games is in order if the Bombers are going to put together anything resembling a “run” before the season is out.

If they Yankees can’t do it against the Mariners, the going only gets tougher when the Cleveland Indians arrive for three games, followed by four against the Red Sox.

Yesterday’s “brawl,” while providing for good entertainment in an otherwise flat performance (Gary Sanchez, Brett Gardner, and Aaron Hicks excepted) by the Pinstripes, should not be a source of motivation for a team that needs to “fight” in other ways to reach their goals this season.

Next: Yankees farm report: Summer is ending, harvest just beginning

And Joe Girardi, Gardner, CC Sabathia, or someone needs to get that message across to the team, and pronto.

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