Oh My God! They Pissed Off Kenny!* You Bastards!

[hellraisinwoman]

I'm sure many of you out there have heard about Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers Roasters** altercation with the media a few days ago. The altercation resulted in one of the cameramen being sent to the hospital with injuries they received in the altercation when Rogers shoved him back, causing that cameraman some injuries(that's the one who wound up in the hospital)and he broke another camera, and also threatened to do it again. No charges were filed although there was an investigation brought about by the Arlington, TX Police. However, the result of Rogers's actions ended up with a fine of $50K and a 20 game suspension. However, the players union filed an appeal on his behalf. I don't know about the rest of you, but I thought they were using fellow Texas pitcher Generalissimo Frank Francisco*** as an example of what could happen to the next player who lashed out the way he did. I guess not, otherwise, Rogers would've gotten the same kind of punishment that was handed down to Francisco. You want to know what MLB Commissioner Bud Selig had to say about this? Well here goes nothing, "Mr. Rogers' behavior was unprofessional, unwarranted and completely unacceptable. Major League Baseball is a social institution and all of us in the game have an important responsibility to act with reason and good judgment." Gee, that's funny, I don't seem to remember him saying that when former major leaguer and Oriole Roberto Alomar spat on that umpire. Remember ladies and germs, this is the same commissioner who, for the 2003 and 2004 seasons(I'm not sure about THIS season though), had every stadium across the country(and in Canada)play 'God Bless America' during the 7th inning stretch(which is a reason why you ain't ever going to see me at a live baseball game for a while). It's understandable for 2003, however by 2004 it got tiring. I never knew that Major League Baseball WAS an institution...not to mention a social institution. Then again who wants to be in an institution? Everybody's going on about how Rogers should've controlled his temper and whatnot, but what about the media? They should bear some of the responsibility if they said or did something to provoke Rogers as well. I thought that if certain players had said once that they didn't want to be bothered by the media, then they won't be bothered unless they agree to be interviewed. Hell, if I were a member of the media in the Texas area and I just heard about this, then I'd declare that I'd stay out of Rogers's way unless he agreed to an interview. I hope the appeal goes through though because I think the suspension was a little harsh. I don't know about the fine though, if it were $100K, then I'd say that the fine was also a little harsh.

*= with apologies to Kenny McCormick from South Park and Texas Rangers Pitcher Kenny Rogers. Just a slight paraphrase on the they killed Kenny phrase.

**= a Bermanism, used by the famous Chris Berman of ESPN Sportscenter and Baseball Tonight. With apologies to Kenny Rogers(the pitcher) again.

***= Unsure of whether or not that was a Bermanism, but if not, then I made it up because the name Frank Francisco reminded me of Francisco Franco(that is Spain's late Generalissimo Francisco Franco). With apologies to fellow Rangers pitcher Frank Francisco.