Fighting in organized sports is generally frowned upon. When football turns to blows the players are described as barbarians, out of control monsters with little or no self control. When basketball teams slug it out they’re deemed thugs and hoodlums. But Wednesday night’s Nationals-Marlins game included one of baseball’s most time-honored traditions, the bench clearing brawl.

Fighting holds a special place in baseball, a moral gray area that while officially outlawed is still accepted as an unspoken part of the game. Sometimes a scrap can be good for team chemistry, a team-building exercise spilling the enemy’s blood. In other sports players can physically confront each other through the course of play while boxing out for rebounds or making tackles. In baseball there is rarely such confrontation although the same agitation exists. Eventually it becomes too much and rather than a flagrant foul or late hit a player will launch an all-out assault. A bench-clearing baseball brawl is spontaneous, one player provoked to the point of attack and his team following into battle. Players, coaches, and fans know that at the highest level of competition this is sometimes unavoidable. That man pushed over the edge on Wednesday was Washington Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan.

Continue Reading ‘Don’t Mess with Nyjer Morgan’>>

In the same sense that people say baseball is better with Josh Hamilton in it, the exact opposite can be said about Nyjer Morgan of the Washington Nationals.  Baseball is worse with Nyjer Morgan in it.  On Wednesday night, Morgan continued his dip-shit ways by igniting a brawl with Chris Volstad and the Florida Marlins.  However it was not just the brawl itself that made Morgan appear completely despicable, it was how he handled the entire situation- for a second it even seemed like he might head into the crowd.

Now, considering that he hasn’t even served what was supposed to be a 7-game suspension for throwing a ball at a fan in Philadelphia, I think it’s safe to say that Morgan’s punishment is overdue.  The brawl is just the latest of his extra curricular activities on what has become a deep list of disconcerting outbursts by the center fielder.  Therefore, I think that it’s time that either the Nationals organization or Bud Selig lay down the law and suspend Nyjer Morgan for the remainder of the 2010 season.

(more…)

---

Subscribe to The Golden Sombrero by Email

---

---