Youk got thrown to the ground because he chose to grab him in a bear hug and anyone who is stationary can easily use the other guy’s momentum against him.

As for the point made earlier that pitchers do stare back in with a scowl - that tends to happen when he throws high and tight but doesn’t hit anyone - the batter stares back, angrily, or maybe says something, and the pitcher shows some sac then.  But almost always when the batter is on his way in for a heart-to-heart, the pitcher gives the “what did I do?” look.

James Shields and Nolan Ryan notwithstanding.

I think Jenks is the ChiSox pitcher who said he purposely threw at someone.

Fans of each team (myself included) are bypassing Craig’s point here.  Batters get hit in the back (square in the numbers).  Pitchers throw at batters purposely.  Just because statement A is true doesn’t mean statement B is true, unless it fits your storyline.

All that said, too bad Porcello’s only 20.  I’m sure his teammates would be all over buying him some beers if he were of legal drinking age.

I sure am glad everyone else weighed in on the A’s spelling and apostrophes and stuff, since I have no training in that field.

I went to UVA, where I double-majored in Debauchery and Excess, training for a career as a layabout (once referred to as a ne’er-do-well-note use of apostrophe to signify missing letters, as in A’s, or O’s).

I will note though that the A’s predecessor teams are rarely referred to as the A’s: it’s nearly always the Philadelphia Athletics or the the Kansas City Athletics.

As was observed previously Finley wanted something more modern sounding after the move to Oakland (perhaps realizing that Oakland wasn’t a thriving metropolis like SF or LA), and the team was called the A’s with regularity.

Today the broadcasters almost always refer to the team as the A’s, but the home jerseys will say Athletics, as do many of the souvenir t-shirts, and indeed my own fierce looking black fleece hoodie with gray “Athletics” written across the chest. I have learned in the many years since UVA that the key to success as a layabout is the development of one’s particular fashion sense. It is also imperative to not freeze one’s ass at A’s night games, so a thick hooded sweatshirt is a necessity, layabout or no.

The worst thing about the Youk/Porcello ‘brawl’ was the disproportionate advantage it gave the Red Sox.  The Tigers lose their starting pitcher after 15 pitches bc Youk is offended.  Youk will appeal the inevitable suspension until they play the Royals/Orioles/A’s and it won’t matter.  You just can’t toss a pitcher for a HBP unless warnings are given.  It is too subjective.

I’m a Red Sox fan, and I think Youk overreacted (and hurt the team) in charging the mound.  That said, I think Porcello went at him on purpose, because Cabrera had just gone out of the game.

That said, I think the retaliation on the part of Porcello was weak.  Here was Tazawa, who in his only other major league appearance gave up a 15th-inning walkoff to ARod, in the first inning of his first start.  Two on, one out, 0-2 to Cabrera.  He’s going to choose that moment to plunk a guy?

The pitch was close enough that Cabrera considered swining - indeed, that’s how his hands got in the way of the pitch.  I’m sorry he got hurt, but Porcello’s retaliation (second attempt, actually) was completely unjustified.  And though I don’t think he would have been tossed had Youk not charged the mound, I’m glad he did, because he was being an idiot.

I got to see my favorite pitcher in action live last night.  Tommy Hanson is everything you could want in a young pitcher and more.  He tossed a gem last night, that was sort of abbreviated because of a couple of pedestrian ground balls that found holes in the first, thus running the PC up a bit prematurely.  I don’t even think he had his best fastball last night, but he carved up the Nats.

But Youk got ejected, too, and it is almost pure luck that Youk’s replacement ended up hitting two bombs after-the-fact.  For that one game, I think the punishment doled out was not unjust, but as was mentioned before, a warning to both sides after Martinez was buzzed would have been a good move. 

I originally thought Porcello’s “what, me?” routine was directed more towards his teammates, as in “where’s the help, guys?  why are you allowing this psycho to reach me?”  However, Porcello handled the rush quite nicely and took out Youkilis fairly easily.

Jack -

You make a couple of good points.  The umpires should have issued warnings after the Martinez pitch.  Also, Youk sure can go charging the mound against an effective pitcher, which is why the ejection of Porcello w/out a warning is so dangerous.  There is too much subjectivity involved, especially in Fenway.  I highly doubt that Porcello gets tossed in Detroit under the same circumstances.  If the umpire thought it was so intentional why did he not immediately toss him?

Also, I do not think that Cabrera getting hit was intentional, but that pitch was not in the strike zone.  Just because a hitter starts his swing does not mean the pitch was a strike.

It was fun listening to Dennis Eckersley on the NESN broadcast adamantly argue that Porcello didn’t intend to hit Youk, and then gradually change his mind over the coures of the game, especially after learning Youkilis was only the second batter he had hit all year and watching the pitch a few times. Eck suddenly said that when he was a young pitcher, seeing his team’s star get removed from the game after being hurt by a pitch, he’d hit the other team’s star “so my team mates would dig me.”

It was fun listening to Dennis Eckersley on the NESN broadcast adamantly argue that Porcello didn’t intend to hit Youk, and then gradually change his mind over the course of the game, especially after learning Youkilis was only the second batter he had hit all year and watching the pitch a few times. Eck suddenly said that when he was a young pitcher, seeing his team’s star get removed from the game after being hurt by a pitch, he’d hit the other team’s star “so my team mates would dig me.”