Though a more responsible blog would concern itself with last night’s 4 hour rain delay in the Bronx, Stephen Strasburg’s successful return to the big leagues or the Mets rebounding from a Bobby Parnell blown save in Miami, as I’m sure you know by now, this is not a very responsible blog. Instead, we’ll concern ourselves with the start of the Midwest League playoffs between the Dayton Dragons and Lansing Lugnuts, a series with no shortage of discord between the two competing managers, as the Dayton Daily News’ Scott McCelland explains ;
On June 27, during what became a 9-2 Dragons win at Fifth Third Field, Dayton skipper Delino DeShields (above) accused Lansing counterpart Mike Redmond of ordering Dragons second baseman Ronald Torreyes hit with a pitch. It was retaliation, DeShields thought, for Dragons third baseman David Vidal trying to steal third when Dayton had a big lead.
“I saw him give an order to throw at (Torreyes),” DeShields said, reluctantly revisiting the sequence of events. “From the dugout, he was getting the catcher’s attention, pointing. I’ve been around long enough to know what that meant.”
The Dragons responded by attempting a double steal in the eighth inning ahead by six runs, which could be construed as a violation of baseball etiquette.
Redmond won MWL manager of the year over DeShields, who skippers the team with the league’s best overall record (83-57). DeShields has laughed off the snub, saying Redmond won a “popularity contest.”
A day after the game in question, DeShields and Redmond shook hands during batting practice, and there have been no incidents since.
“The game is played between the players,” Redmond said. “It has nothing to do with any differences (DeShields) and I might have. That’s the way I look at it. We talked the next day, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”
DeShields agreed, although somewhat conditionally.
“Everything’s cool — unless I see it again,” he said. “Then it’s not going to be cool. Then it’s going to be between me and him.”