MIKE(Bloomberg): WE'D HAVE BUSTED PEDRO

[wndycty]

New Yorkers have to grow up. If someone tries to assault you, you have every right to defend yourself. Zimmer got what he deserved. Think about all of the fights that take place in baseball and they want to arrest Martinez? Oh please!

MIKE: WE'D HAVE BUSTED PEDRO
By FRANKIE EDOZIEN and DAN MANGAN

October 13, 2003 -- Mayor Bloomberg yesterday blasted Boston Red Sox punk Pedro Martinez for body-slamming 72-year-old Yankee coach Don Zimmer - saying the pitcher would have been arrested if he had committed such an "assault" in the Big Apple.

"If that happened in New York, we would have arrested the perpetrator," thundered Bloomberg a day after the Boston baseball brawl.

"Nobody should throw a 70-year-old man to the ground - period. You start doing that, pretty soon you're gonna start throwing 61-year-old men to the ground.
-snip-

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/7976.htm

[GOPisEvil]

1. How does anyone read the Post seriously?

Look at that bombastic crap. "punk", "thundered", "body-slammed" Please NY Post...calm the hell down.

Oh, and please, PLEASE tell me Bloomberg is talking tongue-in-cheek.

[joeybee12]

3. Read King Kauffman on Salon--he has a balanced view

Nobody looked good after saturday's game, but he correctly points out that Zimmer went after pedro--there wasn't much pedro could do, and he handled an awful situation the best way possible.

he does slam Pedro for his gestures to the dugout, which he should, but does accurately note that Zimmer is to blame for his part.

As for all you Yankee fans, now that Bloomberg's on your side, don't you want to change your tune?????

[GOPisEvil]

5. Well, I have no dog in this hunt, so to speak.

I didn't even see this stuff live. I just don't normally see the NY Post, except for the occasional headline. I knew they were a tabloid; I just didn't realize they wrote like the Enquirer.

There's quite enough fault to go around, but I think Harold Reynolds was right - Pedro's actions put the Red Sox hitters on the defensive, and it showed.

[underpants]

2. Hmm I guess cleating a part-time worker is okay in NY though

Look I always liked Zimmer but he can't run out on the field and go after someone and then be a victim because someone ole'd him.

AND LOOK WHO GETS FINED

Martinez was fined $50,000 yesterday by Major League Baseball, while teammate Manny Ramirez was fined $25,000, Yankee Karim Garcia $10,000 and Zimmer $5,000.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. It's not New Yorkers

It's Yankee fans. Two totally seperate entities.

And...Pedro would not have been arrested.

[wndycty]

6. You must be a Mets fan. . .

:kick:

[Drifter]

7. What bullshit

"If that happened in New York, we would have arrested the perpetrator"

If that had happened in NY, the attacker (Zimmer) would have gotten the living shit beat out of him.

I fucking hate the Red Sox about as much as I hate the fucking Yankees. I did not see the incident until this morning.

If you ask me, Pedro did Zimmer a favor by simply dumping him to the ground. Remember 95% of the force of Zimmer hitting the ground is due to Zimmer charging. What the fuck is a 71 year old man ccharging a pitcher for in the first place. He deserved what he got, and he can thank Pedro for not hurting him any more.

Zimmer should he banned from baseball period. Any manager that charges any person on the field should be banned from basball for life.

I know that this was probably a result of retaliation pitching. The only way to get rid of this type of behaviour is to punish it. I have a rule suggestion. If you hit a batter, the batter not only gets a base, but the pitcher is ejected from the game, and faces a 25 game suspension (to ensure he misses 5 or so rotations).

Pitchers are very accurate, that is what they do, and practice. Very rarly does a pitcher accidently hit a batter. This will drive home the importance of NOT hitting a batter, and eliminate this bullshit behavior.

Cheers
Drifter

[Kathy in Cambridge]

8. I was at the game on Saturday, and Zimmer

was at fault. I felt bad for Zimmer during his apology but honestly, at 72 years old, he should know better.

It was a ridiculous spectacle all around...

[joeybee12]

10. It's starting again!

Don't think this will ever stop!

I said it before--read King Kaufman on Salon--he doesn't excuse anyone, even Zimmer, who must learn that old age is not an excuse for bad behavior.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

9. Don't forget Bloomberg is NOT a lawyer or a cop

He is a businessman and a really good PR guy. He has no idea what constitutes self defense apparently.

[HuckleB]

11. I think Peter Gammons puts into correct perspective.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/gammons/story?id=1636542

[MaineDem]

12. Excellent article

And he brings up issues that need to be brought up. Dan Shaughnessy in the Globe talked about Pedro as being irresponsible, an embarrassment, and a disgrace.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2003/10/13/martinezs_reign_should_end/

[JohnKleeb]

13. Shaughnessy isnt he the guy who wrote the book on the curse

btw Boston and Bastards aka Yankees people check out my thread. Seems Zimmer apologized. BTW if Boston gets first place next year and the O's the wild card, and the Yankees stay home :D I will be one happy sob :).

[HuckleB]

14. Wow! That guy's got guts.

Great piece. Thanks for sharing.

[Braden]

26. great piece

Gammons can write opinion like no one else but when it comes to trade rumors he is not so dead on.

[welshTerrier2]

15. On Busting Pedro ...or anyone ...

i, for one, am really sick of sports violence ... you know the old line "i went to a fight last night and a hockey game broke out ..."

it's about time we started holding athletes responsible for the violence they create ... why should a pitcher, throwing a 95 mph fastball at someone's head be above the law? why should a hockey player slashing a hockey stick across someone's face be above the law?

sports violence leads to violence in the general society ... it is a really bad example to set for kids ...

does all this require judgment? of course it does ... is it possible that a "high inside" pitch was nothing but a poorly thown ball ... of course it's possible ... as with any crime, intent is never, or at least rarely, absolute ... but does this mean we should accept sports violence just because we cannot be 100% sure of the intent?

it's time to stop enabling the commercial interests who know their ratings will go up with an increase in violence ...

should Pedro face charges for his actions? of course he should ...

the base post stated: New Yorkers have to grow up. ... to that i say: Fine ... and growing up is about taking responsibility for your actions ... Pedro was trying to hurt Garcia ... he should pay the appropriate consequences for his violent action ...

[wndycty]

16. So should Zimmer be arrested. . .

. . .for attempting to assault Martinez? There is more credible evidence that Zimmer tried to assualt Martinez than Martinez hitting Garcia on purpose.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

17. I felt bad for Zimmer during his apology

It is obvious that rage has been a problem in his life, which is why he apologized to his family too.

[welshTerrier2]

18. if you read my post more carefully

i argued that the punishment should fit the crime ...

if Zimmer charged at Martinez, and he acknowledge he did, judgment should be used as to whether to arrest him or not ... my personal opinion was that, because Zimmer never touched Martinez, and the likelihood of Zimmer hurting him was slight, I would probably let the incident pass ...

on the other hand, pitchers who throw at batters, especially at the batter's head, can do very serious damage ... Red Sox play Tony Conigliaro had his career ended by being hit in the head ... Zimmer, as a player, was hit in the head twice and was in a coma for 13 days ... he lost the ability to speak for several weeks and ended up with a metal plate in his head ... beanballs are a deadly serious business ...

your question about Zimmer's responsibility, while worth considering, is disturbing in that it fails to recognize the substantial differences between what Martinez did and what Zimmer did ...

we need to start prosecuting sports violence ... be we must do so using judgment and reasonableness ... your response to my post seems to lack any sense of proportion ...

[wndycty]

19. Laughable

"your response to my post seems to lack any sense of proportion ..."

If this had ended with Pedro hitting Garcia and then Ramirez charging Clemens, we would not he having this discussion. This discussion is because Martinez threw Zimmer down. If Zimmer does not go after Martinez, this would be another baseball beanball war and no one, including Bloomberg would be talking about arresting anybody.

[welshTerrier2]

20. i Don't Find BeanBalls Too Funny

i was talking about charging "beanballers" with assault during the game ...

you refuse to look at the facts at how the league levied fines ... what Zimmer did was wrong ... what Martinez did to Garcia was clearly "wronger" ...

can i assume you don't think sports violence should be prosecuted ... if so, that's too bad ...

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

21. Bloomberg...

ALL he's trying to do is say something popular that New Yorkers want to hear. Nothing new.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

22. And Bloomberg is originally from Boston

too funny. He was a Sox fan until he became Mayah of Nooo Yawk.

[JohnKleeb]

23. really RR?

btw can this shit cease? Fuck it I am gonna go root for the cubbies :D and my team who is not in the playoffs.

[welshTerrier2]

24. Medford, MA

if i'm not mistaken ...

[Kathy in Cambridge]

25. That's Meffa to us Massholes!

Right, Joel?

:hi:

[welshTerrier2]

27. Dont Be Giving Away

all of our secret codewords !!!

if you'll check your MA codebook, Meffa is on page 48 !!!

please be more careful ...

[Loyal]

28. Can someone give me a link

To the original incident? I didn't see that game.. :( . Does anyone have a link that details the fight between Zimmer and Pedro?