San Francisco Giants Mess with the Johan—The Umpires Do Not

I don't get it.

Fresh off a contentious series against the hated Los Angeles Dodgers that saw every single close play go the Bums' way (and some not so close ones), the San Francisco Giants landed in New York City to take on the Metropolitans.  No natural animosity there so we thought maybe things would calm down—both on the fracas detail and the umpiring front.

Two games into the four-game set, it appears that might not be the case.

The judgment of the blues has been good so far, nothing egregious as I've seen it.  Even so, the umpires still find ways to shaft the Gents.

On Saturday, los Gigantes sent one tine of their two-pronged assault on the National League Cy Young Award to the hill in Matt Cain.  The young flamethrower was brilliant once again...except for a wayward fourth-inning heater.

After Luis Castillo led of the inning with an infield single, Cainer absolutely annihilated David Wright.

The Kid has an A+ fastball and he accidentally hit the Mets' phenom squarely in the head with an offering.  Sans batting helmet, there's a good chance David Wright is still unconscious, maybe even dead.

I'm not joking—find a replay of it if you dare because it ain't pretty.

But, if you find the replay, make note of the context.

The young San Francisco right-hander was locked in a pitcher's duel with the great Johan Santana, there were goose eggs on the scoreboard, he'd just given up a lead-off single, he was sinking through the heart of the New York lineup, it was an 0-two pitch, and Bengie Molina's target was DOWN and in.

If ever there were a clearer case of a pitch taking off on a hurler, this was it.

Granted, whenever you hit an opposing splinter in the dome, there will be consequences and repercussions.  Nobody in Orange and Black—fans, players, coaches, management, nor ownership—had any illusions about that.

Nor did most of us have a problem with it when Santana threw behind Pablo Sandoval in the top of the seventh.

I wrote the same thing a couple weeks ago when Jonathan Sanchez winged one over Chase Utley's head—if you're on the bump for a Major League Baseball team, you're expected to have enough control of your arsenal to avoid throwing at or near the head.

Period.

It's too dangerous with too much at stake for even unintentional episodes to go unaddressed.  For those legal types, think of it as a strict liability crime.

Furthermore, denizens of the Show understand this cardinal rule:  retaliation is in the mail once someone gets skulled.

But Johan Santana got his pound of flesh.  Or at least he got his chance at his pound of flesh.

That home plate umpire Brian Onora's warning issued for a failed attempt, that he couldn't hit a grown man like Little Panda (think Little John from Robin Hood) is on Johan.  And so is the bomb Little Money hit on the former Cy Young a couple pitches later.

Are you paying attention John Kruk?  Can you say "second deck?"

You would not like Pablo Sandoval when he is angry.

Here's where it gets dicey.

Johan Santana still wanted the blood for which he came—no matter that his own ineptitude cost him his one legitimate opportunity.  Nor did it seem to matter that, after the BIG fly of Sandoval's bat, the issue of why he wanted said blood had been clouded.

Was Santana upset about Wright still?

Or was he now upset that he'd been humiliated by a 23-year-old kid?  Twice—once when Pablito dodged the bean ball AND again when he took the prodigal pitcher for a bit o' yard work at the cavernous new Citi Field.

I'm sure everyone who supports the Big Apple's NL squad will say it was all about protecting David Wright.  I'm not so sure.

Regardless, Johan Santana—he of the 144 strikeouts and 46 walks as well as the career K:BB ration of almost 4:1—drilled Molina.  On purpose.

Yes, the count was one-two.  Yes, the game was still close.  Yes, New York only had nine outs left and was trailing.  Yes, the umpire didn't eject the prized pony.

I don't care.

There is NO WAY a pitcher with impeccable control throws a ball behind one batter and then hits the next without premeditation.  Not on a night when he had his good stuff.  Not on a night when his lone healthy slugger gets domed.  Not when the hitter he missed takes him deep.

Sorry.  That's far too many coincidences for most reasonable people.

Apparently, the man behind the dish didn't qualify for some part of that sentence because, as I said, Johan Santana didn't get thumbed.  Instead, Onora let the southpaw leave the game at the behest of his manager's hook.

No ejection.  After intentionally throwing at two batters in retaliation for an innocent, though-obscene mistake.

That's one hell of a generous benefit of the doubt, especially considering warnings had issued about five pitches ago.

I hope it gets extended to the San Francisco Giants today and tomorrow.

Of course, I'm not holding my breath.

**www.pva.org**