Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to The Yankee Zone. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Piazza Beaned, Willie has Heiman Retaliate; Article by Mark Hale
Topic Started: Sep 11 2005, 05:55 AM (28 Views)
Gategem
Member Avatar
Member In Exile
Members
September 11, 2005 -- ST. LOUIS — The beginning was ideal for Mike Piazza. In his first game back from the disabled list last night, the Met catcher homered in his initial at-bat.
But the end of his night was a mess.

Piazza, who had been out since Aug. 16 with a broken bone in his left hand, drilled a solo blast off Jeff Suppan in the second inning of the Mets' 4-2 loss to the Cardinals. But in the eighth, he was drilled in the helmet with a Julian Tavarez fastball, had to leave the game and was found to have suffered a slight concussion.

"I feel OK," said Piazza, who is listed as day to day.

After the game, Piazza and Cardinal manager Tony La Russa had a conversation. According to La Russa, the manager insisted there was no intent behind the beaning. Piazza, though, would not discuss the conversation.

"I don't really have anything to say about that," Piazza said.

When asked if he thought there was intent behind the pitch, Piazza said, "I don't really know." Piazza, of course, was beaned in one of baseball's most famous encounters back in 2000 when Roger Clemens fired a ball into his helmet.



La Russa, meanwhile, was disturbed by the beaning.

"The incident where somebody gets hit in the head, whether it's Mike Piazza or anybody, spoils the whole night for me," La Russa said. "It's been my number-one pet peeve 'cause it's scary. It's dangerous. I'd trade him not getting hit and we lose the game."

La Russa also said Tavarez insisted that he didn't hit Piazza on purpose.

"He swore on his family. So I believe him," the manager said.

"I just went out there and tried to get a ball inside," Tavarez said. "It got away from my hand and I hit him. I've got nothing against that guy."

Coming into the at-bat, Piazza had been 2-for-3 with a homer, a soft single to center and a pop-up. But in the eighth, Tavarez' first pitch found his head.

Piazza laid on the ground initially, as assistant trainer Mike Herbst and manager Willie Randolph came out to check on him. Soon after, though, Piazza sat up and eventually left the field. Ramon Castro pinch ran for him.

Piazza said he was "a little bit" dazed at first.

"A little loopy, but I'm all right," he said.

"I don't care if he's not doing it intentionally or whatever. That's just a bad area, period," Cliff Floyd said, adding, "That's a scary moment."

The Mets, meanwhile, retaliated in the bottom half of the inning, as Aaron Heilman hit David Eckstein in the left leg.

Asked if there was any intent, Heilman said, "You've got to be able to pitch inside and sometimes you're going to miss."

Asked if the Mets were retaliating or sending a message, Randolph said, "That's something that we take care of anyway. Not something that we need to talk about."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
TheOne
Member Avatar
I'm still better than you!
Members
I heard Piazza went looking for Tavarez in the cardinals lockerroom after that game, Mike is such a man's man!!!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · MLB Talk · Next Topic »
Add Reply

Member Legend
Administrator | Moderator | Member | Validating | Banned

Please Visit Our Affiliates





Title banner © 2007 by Venom of The Yankee Zone.
All Rights Reserved.
edge created by tiptopolive of ifsz