In a fit of pique, talents both great (Tom Petty) and not-so-great (Page Hamilton) have slugged walls and broken their own bones as a result. There’s at least one pitcher in the American League Central who has failed to learn a serious lesson from the mistakes of the Mudcrutch and Helmet frontmen, as the Kansas City Star’s Bob Dutton explains :
Royals left-hander John Bale won™t be returning to active duty any time soon after breaking his pitching hand Friday night by punching a door at the team™s downtown hotel.
Bale apparently was frustrated by his slow recovery from a fatigued left shoulder. He returned early Sunday to Kansas City and is scheduled to undergo further examination Monday by club physicians.
œI™m not pleased, obviously, manager Trey Hillman said before Sunday™s series finale against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. œPlayers have to think before they do things.
œThey™ve got to think about how it™s going to affect the rest of their team, how it™s going to affect their ability to perform and how it™s going to affect the whole group. I™m hopeful that there™s something salvageable for him. We™ll just have to wait to see where it goes.
Bale, 33, made three starts before a œdead arm forced him to the disabled list after his April 15 outing in Seattle. He was 0-3 and allowed 13 runs and 25 hits in 15 1/3 innings.
The emergence of rookie Luke Hochevar probably meant Bale would return to the staff as a reliever, which could have added to his frustration. Bale lost 25 pounds last winter in an effort to condition himself for a possible starting job.
I’m sure it was difficult for Bale to fess up to Hillman about how the injury occurred, but I’ve already used the “Joe Beimel stabbed me in the hand” excuse to get out of jury duty. As it turns out, Bale was surplus to requirements today in Cleveland, as Gil Meche (7 IP, 4 hits, 4 K’s, no walks) combined with Leo Nunez and Joakim Soria for a shutout, as the Royals beat the Indians, 2-0.