From what I've seen of Rivera this season, he's definitely not himself. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see that there's a stint on the disabled list in his future.
There's absolutely no doubt that he threw at Hillenbrand's head intentionally. Shea doesn't crowd the plate at all. And, you're right, it's a totally classless act from a team that is usually classy. I was amazed that there was no warning issued.
I don't know how much of the New York-Boston series you saw, but the Rivera incident was only the middle part of a long beanball war that lasted through all four games. It started when Pedro hit Giambi twice. He didn't drill him intentionally, but he was trying to pitch inside. Giambi hangs over way over the plate, and Pedro's still looking for his control after his injury. David Wells followed that one up by pitching behind Trot Nixon. That caused the umpires to issue the only warning of the series.
In the Monday morning game, Derek Lowe retaliated for Hillenbrand by drilling Nick Johnson in his big soft rump. Personally, I thought he'd wait for Soriano to come to the plate, since he's sort of Hillenbrand's equivalent on the Yankees.
And thanks to the unbalanced schedule, there are only 15 Boston-New York games left this season.
There's absolutely no doubt that he threw at Hillenbrand's head intentionally. Shea doesn't crowd the plate at all. And, you're right, it's a totally classless act from a team that is usually classy. I was amazed that there was no warning issued.
I don't know how much of the New York-Boston series you saw, but the Rivera incident was only the middle part of a long beanball war that lasted through all four games. It started when Pedro hit Giambi twice. He didn't drill him intentionally, but he was trying to pitch inside. Giambi hangs over way over the plate, and Pedro's still looking for his control after his injury. David Wells followed that one up by pitching behind Trot Nixon. That caused the umpires to issue the only warning of the series.
In the Monday morning game, Derek Lowe retaliated for Hillenbrand by drilling Nick Johnson in his big soft rump. Personally, I thought he'd wait for Soriano to come to the plate, since he's sort of Hillenbrand's equivalent on the Yankees.
And thanks to the unbalanced schedule, there are only 15 Boston-New York games left this season.
