MLB: the New Beasts of the East

I am a little late on my thoughts on the AL East, yet I am surprised about the rise of the Rays. It is fun to see some competition against the Red Sox, even more fun to watch the matchups between the two teams. There was no warning as what would happen in the later innings of the game last night.

Coco Crisp was involved in a situation in which he nearly took out Rays player Akanori Iwamura on a slide into second base. Iwamura thought Crisp was going after him, so did Rays manager Joe Maddon. There was no doubt after watching the battle of words back and forth between Maddon and Crisp that some sort of fireworks would erupt in today's game. It was even clearer when Iwamura returned to the Rays dugout and Maddon patted him as if to say, "Don't worry, I've got your back."

I don't know exactly what, if anything, was ordered or suggested in terms of comeuppance in today's game, but there was definitely retaliation. This is the account of what happened, according to ESPN: "The fight started after Boston's Coco Crisp was hit on the right hip by a second-inning pitch from James Shields. Crisp dropped his bat, charged the mound, and ducked a wild right by Shields before throwing a few punches himself.

Crisp was tackled to the ground by Tampa Bay catcher Dioner Navarro. Rays designated hitter Jonny Gomes charged the mound from the dugout, jumped on Navarro and Crisp, and threw several punches that hit Crisp while he was on the ground.

Crisp, Shields, and Gomes were ejected."

I am all for defending players, for it is part of baseball tradition to stand up for teammates and players. This is a sign that the Red Sox already noticed: the Rays are going to be around for a while this season, maybe for several more seasons. The Rays are young, mean, fighting machines, and they have talent, so don't expect a return of the laughable losers, the worst in the East.

From what I watched, I don't believe Crisp did this intentionally. However, if there is any evidence of intention, then there is more to discuss. For the moment, I understand what the Rays were feeling, but I think it was juvenile for such a quick response in this case. It is important to let the players play the game.

However, when I watched the game last night, I thought that the umpires should have warned the two adversaries, Maddon and Crisp, to settle down, because I was concerned that the fight would happen sooner rather than today. Maddon should have shut his yap up and been ejected for the way he handled himself in the instance, regardless of his defense.

But for now, I will sit back and enjoy the fireworks. This is going to be a fun rest of the season, and for once, the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry has been diminished slightly, though never in terms of tradition. There is a more interesting rivalry to watch now.