Cleveland Indians starter Derek Lowe's quality start Wednesday, June 13 quickly became overshadowed by drama between the pitcher and Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker.
Trouble sparked when Reds starter Mat Latos threw a first pitch high and inside to Lowe during the fifth inning. Lowe motioned to Baker in the dugout before continuing with the at-bat. In the bottom half of the fifth, Lowe practiced baseball's unwritten "eye for an eye" rule by hitting Cincinnati second baseman Brandon Phillips. Umpires then issued warnings to both teams.
Following the game Derek Lowe provided some backstory to the media, indicating Baker has held a grudge against Lowe since 2008 when the starter played for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lowe believed Baker told Latos to purposely throw up high on him. Dusty Baker confirmed Lowe's speculation Thursday, June 14, telling the media, "I didn't order anybody to hit him (Lowe), but I told (Latos) to buzz him and make him feel uncomfortable. And that's what happened."
Now exactly why Baker told Latos to do this remains uncertain as neither party appears willing to talk about the 2008 incident without using shrouds of vagueness. Instead, Cincinnati devolved to childish behavior.
Dusty Baker seems bitter Lowe revealed the two's problems date back to 2008, saying, "What he (Lowe) was talking about was something he said and did a few years ago. You've got to ask him what that was." If Baker left the situation at that, fine. However, he continued on, for instance, commenting, "Understand what I'm saying? Since he's such a big man to run his mouth, tell him to run his mouth about himself."
Besides Dusty Baker, Mat Latos took a verbal shot at Derek Lowe on Thursday, saying, "(Lowe) can whine about it if he wants to whine about it. If I wanted to hit him, I would have hit him, flat out.'' Personally, I'm irked Baker and Latos decided to hide behind their actions with technicalities. While, yes, Derek Lowe didn't get hit by the pitch, the intent remained the same. Throwing behind a hitter gets frowned upon, so why shouldn't the same prove true for what Baker instructed Latos to do?
In fairness to Cincinnati, you can debate whether Lowe should've hit Phillips and had better-phrased post-game comments. Still, at the very least, I admire Derek Lowe for ending the drama, refusing to respond to the remarks made by Dusty Baker and Mat Latos on June 14.
Zachary Fenell fell in love with the Cleveland Indians during the 1995 season when the Tribe powered their way to the organization's first World Series appearance since 1954. While the Indians lost some allure since the 1990s you will still find Zachary watching the games on TV, listening to them on the radio, or best yet taking in a game from the stands at Progressive Field.
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