There aren’t a ton of instances where I’d find myself sympathetic to former Denver Post scribe / serial Michael Lewis-baited Tracy Ringolsby, but this is surely one of ’em. My personal turn-ons include cheap shots at Alex Rodriguez, unfair treatment of A-Rod and anything that paints the Yankees’ 3B in a negative light. As such, Ringolsby’s hatchet job on The Centaur Of All Attention is right up my alley, or at least it was before some of the fun stuff ended up on the cutting room floor. Still, even Ringolsby’s editors at Fox Sports see no problem with their correspondent openly advocating something just short of attempted murder :

Word of advice to Dallas Braden: Don™t issue threats, just do. The next time A-Rod steps to the plate, send him a message.

That’s what Bob Gibson did in 1972 when a San Diego rookie named Derrel Thomas elaborately dug in for his first big-league at-bat against the Cardinals’ Hall of Fame-bound pitcher.

“‘If you’re going to dig, dig six feet,'” Dave Garcia, the Padres’ third base coach at the time, recalls Gibson telling Thomas. Then Gibson threw the first pitch at Thomas™ neck.

(links swiped from Subway Squawkers)