Suspended Indians starter Ublado Jimenez claims there was no ill-intent behind his Sunday drilling of former teammate, Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki, an act Colorado skipper Jim Tracy has called “the most gutless act I have seen in 35 years of professional baseball,”. Albany radio host Bruce Jacobs — whose last CSTB appearance revealed a broadcaster with every bit of Dino Costa’s nuance and sophistication — reminds “Jimmy Whiner”, that “many of us remember when you managed the LA Dodgers in 2003 and your relief pitcher hit Mets catcher Mike Piazza in the HEAD! On purpose and in Spring Training, no less.” (link swiped from Repoz and Baseball Think Factory)
Worse, while Tracy whines about Jiminez, it was Tracy’s gutless relief pitcher and steroid cheat Guillermo Mota who hit Piazza in the bean on purpose. But what happened next added to the gutlessness of Roid cheat Mota.
After the blatant beaning, Mota ran like a little girl into the dugout of his Dodgers before any Met player could grab him. Ran like a 5-year-old. Yet here was Tracy, crying like the girl’s mother, saying what Jiminez did was the worst thing he had seen in all his years in the game. His guy got it on the elbow. Mota sought out someone’s head and let fly, and then ran off before he could be confronted by Piazza or any other Met.
So while we are innundated with how Jiminez is this and that, and Tracy goes into his cry mode, just remember it was Tracy who watched as gutless Mota hit and ran off 9 years ago in the same Spring training. Now, which was more gutless Jim Tracy?
I was at that game and it was hilarious. Piazza searched for him for a good hour after the game and had to be locked out of the visiting clubhouse. For a few innings, the MLB was the loud double-wide at the end of the cul-de-sac…