Brawl fallout: Maddon calls Duncan slide "borderline criminal"

So much for any issues between the Rays and Yanks being "put to bed."

The Rays-Yankees spring training game Wednesday took a wild turn in the top of the second, when Yankees 1B Shelley Duncan slid spikes-high into Rays 2B Akinori Iwamura while trying to stretch a single into a double. Duncan's hard slide prompted a quick ejection, and sparked the benches to clear. Rays OF Jonny Gomes, however, got to Duncan first, racing from rightfield to shove the Yankee. The dugouts emptied, with many convening around the middle infield, with most of the action posturing and light pushing (not punching), though LF Carl Crawford said the scrum got a little "heated."

"A dirty play,'' Rays CF B.J. Upton said of Duncan's slide. "Just flat out dirty. Period.''

Rays manager Joe Maddon went a step further, discussing what he feels is a clear difference between INF Elliot Johnson's home-plate collision Saturday at Legends Field and Duncan's slide Wednesday.

"In Tampa, that play you saw at home plate was a good hard baseball play," Maddon said. "What you saw today is a definition of a dirty play. There's no room for it in our game. It's contemptible. It's wrong. It's borderline criminal. I can't believe they did it."

Duncan, if you remember, had made some veiled threats earlier this week that there would be more intensity in today's game following the much-publicized home plate collision by Johnson. The Rays felt it was just a hard play. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said it was "uncalled for" during a spring training game.

Duncan said afterwards that there was no malicious intent behind the slide, saying, "I was going hard at the glove." The first baseman said it wasn't premeditated, but when "you're out by a mile," sometimes you try some creative slides.

In the ensuing scramble in the middle infield, even SS Ben Zobrist, his left hand wrapped in a cast, raced out to help. RF Rocco Baldelli made his way out there, joking afterward, "That's all I got."

Gomes said he was taught ever since little league to "defend" your teammates. Gomes called Duncan's slide dirty, and not the Yankee way of doing things.

Gomes had to be held back by Rays bullpen coach Bobby Ramos, and he was later tossed.

"He was trying to hurt Aki," Rays RF Cliff Floyd said.

Iwamura had a cut on the inside of his right knee, which drew a little blood. The second baseman said he was mad for just a few seconds, but said those feelings were gone quickly. Iwamura said he wasn't hurt, "I'm smiling," he said with a grin. "No problem."

Duncan was one of three Yankees tossed (hitting coach Kevin Long and third base coach Bobby Meacham the others). Gomes was the only Ray ejected.

Duncan's play wasn't the first spark today. In the first inning, Yankees LHP Heath Phillips was tossed after he hit touted Rays prospect Evan Longoria with a pitch. That sparked Yankees manager Joe Girardi to argue his case with the umpire.

Phillips said it wasn't intentional, and Longoria felt the same way. The third baseman said the ball glazed his left arm.

Both teams went back to their dugout with an ovation from the sellout crowd.

-- JOE SMITH

joesmith@sptimes.com

Comments

[Jimbo]

Well, look at that, the Rays won! The Yanks become a national embarrassment and lose to a "poor excuse for a major league baseball team" 7-6. That makes the Rays the best team in baseball (9-3) by at least one game (the Angels are the only 4-loss team left, and they're playing right now), and the Yanks are 6-5. My, how the mighty have fallen!

[Ace]

this has gotten out of hand with the comments. stop attacking the fans of a team trying to build themselves to a winner, not BUYING. with that being said, there was the intent to injure in that slide. when that collision happened a few days ago, a baseball incident happened, not a malicious attempt to hurt another person. shelley should have to sit a few games for trying to hurt someone who had nothing to do with that previous incident. this whole thing is ridiculous. just like plunking longoria.

You Stay Classy, Yankees (Fans too)!

[Byan]

no one else to blame but the manager? no one has to tell Elliot Johnsonto SHOW his manager and team that he's doing EVERYTHING he can to make this team out of spring. There's a difference between WANTING to play hard and showing your giving 100% and TRYING to injure someone like shelly duncan. The initial play warranted it's outcome, it was a clean play if you had been there in persn to see it, which I was. Maddon didn't signal to his 3rd base coach before the play to clean homeboy's plate. If you've read the articles, Maddons had the cooler head in this situation, said he felt bad but thats what happens. For you to think they intentionally BROKE his wrist is farce..it was just the outcome of a play at the plate. nothing more nothing less...on the other hand, Shelly Duncan went into second, with or without Girardi's blessing, for BLOOD and nothing less. Why? who knows....but that was just disgusting.

[Mike the Literate Floridian]

Last 2 seasons - Rays-yanks are 20 and 20. Looking forward to breaking .500 this year. Nick, most of the 'tards down here are transplants from where else? New York. You people are like an ever growing cancer on our beautiful state. Go home - that is unless you are a bandwagoner, in which case, make your first trip to New York. Oh, and it's nice to remember that the Yanks are just as hateable as their cousins the Red Sox.

[Mike Creyton]

I guarantee you that Nick lives in Florida, which in turn makes him a Floridian just like us. Definition of Floridian = someone who lives in Florida.

What a moron. Go Rays!

[Boohoo]

Bryan - You've got no one else to blame but your manager who encourages hard play in March. Maddon was held accountable today.

Bring it on, Tampa Bay Devil Gays.

[Rays Proud]

Yo, Nick, what's that matta? You call us Floridiots? Is that all you got? The way you're telling it, your beloved yank's are getting thier butt handed to them on a platter by a "porr excuse for a major league team".

[Bryan]

hey boohoo, that's not hardnose that's hardheaded....the intent was there on that play, he knew what he was doing. that play wasn't accidental whatsoever...

as far as knocking out your AA catcher compared to spiking our OPENING DAY 2B?

are you serious?

[Brian]

I love it!!! The Yankee's are such whiners and poor losers, I think it's great that a team known for losing is getting under the skin of a team that's known for winning. Even Yankee fan can't make any comment on this because they know their team is a bunch of cry babies from the manager down to the bat boy.

[Nick]

Stupid Floridiots... have fun being Batting practice for the Yanks AGAIN this season... Too bad you do not realize that it is the Yankees who are keeping your poor excuse for a major league baseball team afloat... being that all the money the Yanks make there is this little thing called luxury tax which keeps teams as sorry as yours from drowning... oh but I'm sure you red neck tards don't know that because you a majority of you can even count to three (which is more than the amount of teeth you have)...

[Shelley Duncan]

To gomesfan: your hero did even get a piece of me. He tripped over the bag. Hehe... Can't touch this.

[LoriO]

Jonny Gomes is solid. Good for him sticking up for the boys.

GO RAYS!

[REAL Dictionary]

TORRE = gutless manager who lets his players get plunk my everyone

GIRARDI = belly full of guts.

[Jeff]

All I can say is that I just ordered tickets to the first series against the Yanks at the Trop!!! GO RAYS!!!!

[BOHOO... THEY]

Didn't I warn you guys about this?

So who's playing hard nose now?

So what if Iwamura has a cut, Cervelli has to undergo surgery and will be out for 10 weeks. Deal with it.

[Eric]

Andy Petitte couldn't pitch today?
Maybe he just couldn't get suspended today. Saw it comin from a mile Girardi.

[Dictionary]

Torre = Intelligant classy manager
Girardi = Bush league cry baby

[gomesfan]

All I can say is Jonny Gomes is awsome.

[Don in Sarasota]

Who in the he11 names their boy Shelley? That's just plain wrong. This is just another reason to Hate the Yankees. Go Rays!

[dooey]

I've heard Aki knows Martial Arts also. Too bad he didn't show off a little.

[Rodger]

The yankees said this would happen next time they play the rays. there's a big difference in sliding in with high cleats and getting your ash runover when your blocking the plate. since the yankees think the rays are so good now maybe the tide is shifting...

[Bob]

Too bad they held Gomes back. He would have kicked shelley girls butt. Go Rays

[joeh]

Yanks manager should have preached to his players what he expects from other teams' players. Girardi new what was going on and he did nothing to control his players. Maybe they are not his players and he is just an impostor. One of the great things about baseball is the code the game and the players have and protect. Now along comes Girardi and turns that upside down. Is that the Yankee way?

[dooey]

Hilarious!!! GO D-RAYS!!!!!
oooops. Who do I pay my dollar to?

GO RAYS!!!!!

"All Yankee fans are jackoffs"
---Whitney Johnson

[Sim]

I don't understand Yank fans complaining about a collison at the plate. I hope they don't really believe the garbage coming from Girardi. If they do, they'll be watching the playoffs at home. Go Rays!!

[ashamed]

This is fecking funny. I am a yankees fan, but I am ashamed of how they are acting. I agree that these are different yankees without Torre and Duncan is a punk.

[Mike]

Its funny how Yanks fans are now paying attention and trying to talk some trash... scared? In the words of John Tortorella, "Shut your YAP"!!

[Puerto Rican Yankee Blows]

Hey Puerto Rican fan, first learn how to spell you retard. Second of all if you hold NYC in such high regard, leave your trailer park behind and move there with your low rider (out of style) and leave this great state.

[Danny Almonte]

Don't worry Rays fans ... I'll throw at Duncan's kid in our Li'l regional playoffs!

[GFrantz]

Go Sox!!!!

[Pete]

This story shows the class of the new Yankees manager....

Girardi called Lieber with tip on pitches
Associated Press

Updated: February 27, 2007, 6:56 PM ET
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JUPITER, Fla. -- Florida Marlins officials were unhappy to hear that their manager last year, Joe Girardi, gave rival pitcher Jon Lieber helpful tips during the season.

Lieber said his season with the Philadelphia Phillies turned around shortly after he was roughed up by the Marlins last July 31, and he credits a phone call from Girardi, a former major league catcher. They played together with the Chicago Cubs from 2000-02.

"He just mentioned that the hitters said everything that was coming in was just very flat," Lieber told the Philadelphia Daily News. "I wasn't on top of the ball like I should have been."

Both teams contended for the NL wild-card berth, and Lieber beat the Marlins twice in September.

Florida general manager Larry Beinfest declined to comment Tuesday, but another team official said the front office was angry about the matter. The official requested anonymity because Beinfest wouldn't comment.

There's no indication the front office knew last year about Girardi's conversation with Lieber. Girardi's relationship with management quickly soured in his only season with Florida, and he was fired in October -- then chosen NL Manager of the Year.

Marlins left-hander Dontrelle Willis shrugged off the comments about Girardi helping Lieber.

"What are you going to do now?" Willis said. "He doesn't even work here anymore. You can't dock his pay.

"I don't think it's a big deal. If we lost the wild card by two games, OK. But there are so many different other factors."

Left-hander Scott Olsen agreed.

"If you would have told me that last July when it happened, I probably would say a little more," Olsen said. "But it doesn't mean anything right now."

The Marlins finished 10 games behind NL wild-card winner Los Angeles and seven games behind Philadelphia.

Girardi's agent didn't return a call seeking comment.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

[Biff]

If the game is big enough to block the plate then why would it not be big enough for the runner to drill the catcher?

[ryan callahan]

WE GOT THE YANKEES MAD!!! WOO HOO.

[Ace]

i just found out that our boy "shelley" graciously signed a 10 year old sox fans hat by putting "red sox suck" next to his signature. you stay classy, yankees!

[Pete]

I only regret that Billy Crystal wasn't in uniform yet. I would have loved to see Jonny Gomes toss his around like a rag doll!!

[Ace]

i dont understand why the yanks were so upset. if they didnt want that guy to slide into their catcher a few days ago, why didnt the catcher let him by? this is baseball and that stuff happens.

as for "shelley"- he needs to shut his mouth and just play ball. he has no business running his mouth like hes one of the big boys in pinstripes. maybe if he worked on his game as much as he worried about spring training trash talk, he'd make the team

[Pete]

Nick was right on point. Fans took Joe Torre for granted and assumed that anyone could have won with those lineups. The Yankees look like a bunch of clowns now that Girardi is the skipper. Beware Yankees fans! Girardi is a chump who couldn't last more than one year with the Marlins, angered the Marlins owner, gave helpful advice to an opponent's pitcher, and damaged the arms of his young pitchers. Girardi can't handle the pressure of spring training in Florida. What makes anyone think that he will handle the pressure of the New York media when the team heads north?

[Puerto Rican Yankee Fan]

hey mang, if ju wan trouble with Yankee Nation STEP UP Homes!
Even tho i never been to NY, i am diehard

I like NY Giants too!

[Mike]

I expect better from Dave Duncan's kid... Maybe the Marlins were right about Girardi... I predict the Yankees will be cellar dwellers within 2 years.

[Brian]

I am so fired up right now after today for the 2008 season. I am so excited now to watch the games and all the cool promotional giveaways!
LETS GO RAYS!!!!

[Ted]

I would have been disappointed if this didn't happen, because it was totally predictable on Duncan's part. It really confirms the difference we will see between Torre's and Girardi's Yanks. If Girardi is worried about getting a "prospect" hurt, then he should inform his catcher not to block the plate during spring training games. When you do that, something's got to give. In this case, it was his wrist.

[LP]

LOVE IT!! Who is Shelley Duncan?

[Tingler]

What a bunch of alsorans, nobodies, steroid/hgh injecting cheaters and whinny babies - The Yankees Suck!! Will someone please remind Shelley "Michelle" Duncan to grab some pine, not to be late for his manni/petti, and shut his pie hole - what girl! As Johnny G said "Punks jump up to get knocked down" Shelley you are a bushleague wannabe punk who's about to get knocked down!! Go Rays!

[Jonny G]

Keith,

You talking about Elliot Johnson taking out a prospect? What about Heath Phillips, a guy with 6 career appearances throwing at arguably the Top Prospect in the Game? Or Shelley Duncan a bench player going high spikes on our starting second basemen. There is a difference. What Johnson did was perfectly legal, what Duncan and Phillips did got themselves ejected.

[Jimbo]

Hey Keith, I hear Southwest's got non-stops to Newark from Tampa. You might want to head on the next one, because pretty much everyone in the country, including most from ESPN and FSN, agree that Joe Girardi has blown this WAY out of proportion. The only people who are crying are in the Bronx. Even Queens is probably laughing cause Willie Randolph wouldn't even act like that.

[mm]

As a Yankee fan, I don't mind seeing the Rays get a little overexcited. I just want them to that against Boston too.

But don't throw at Longoria! He's my fantasy team sleeper!

[LoriO]

What chump moves, throwing at Longaria's head and then Duncan going in spikes high. There is a difference between playing hard and playing nasty. Such low class, Yankees, such low class.

[don]

SHELLEY winters, SHELLEY hack, SHELLEY long, SHELLEY fabaraes.

Shelley Duncan is the latest in a long list of girly girls to grace popular culture. What? Oh yeah...who the hell is Shelley Duncan?

[keith]

you guys are hilarious. you have a career .285 OBP minor leaguer taking out prospects with homeplate collisions and you have the stones to complain? get a grip. maddon escalated this with his stupid affirmation of johnson's aggressive dash.

anyway, to the clowns who imply NYC is dangerous with crime.

you are aware that both tampa and st. pete have higher rates of violent crime than NYC?

what the hell's in the water down there?

internet fight! weeeeeeee!!!111!!

[Nick]

Typical Yanks...they've had some questionable moments in the past few years, but it looks like Joe Torre took any shreds of class they had left with him to L.A. You block the plate, you expect to get blasted...you slide spikes up, you should get a suspension. This is getting ridiculous.