The scrum
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The scrum
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
The adrenaline had subsided by the end of the night, replaced instead by chuckling explanations of what went on in the pile. Brian Schneider was at the bottom of it, along with fellow catcher Carlos Ruiz. Ryan Howard was late because he was in the batting cage. Only the swell in crowd noise alerted him to what was going on.
What was going on was something less than a brawl but something more than a shoving match. Call it a scrum. Shane Victorino was hit in the back with a pitch by Ramon Ramirez with the Phillies leading 8-2 with two out in the sixth inning. The unanimous feeling in the Phillies clubhouse was that the pitch was intentional: Charlie Manuel and Vance Worley said they had no doubt about it, as did Victorino.
It is unclear what sparked it. Maybe it was Shane Victorino's earlier home run, or the one he hit the day before. Maybe it was Jimmy Rollins stealing with a six-run lead, although six runs is hardly an insurmountable lead, particularly in the sixth inning. Or maybe it was just that, for the previous 48 hours, the Phillies had made the Giants look like a Little League team, particularly last night, when they showed zero respect for Carlos Beltran's arm or range in right field and hit three home runs: one from Victorino, one from John Mayberry Jr., and one from Hunter Pence.
"I think us hitting them upset them," Manuel said.
Indeed, the Phillies hit them hard, and in two games have seized all of the momentum the Giants had built between last year's NLCS victory and last week's series in which they took 2 out of 3 at Citizens Bank Park.
Victorino said later he had no intention of charging the mound, that his only desire when he stepped forward was to say a few words to the pitcher who had just drilled him in the back.
"I had no intention of going out there and charging the mound," Victorino said. "I just wanted to know why, in that situation, he was around the plate all night, throughout that inning, and two outs, and first pitch is at my back. I just wanted to go out there and get an answer."
Eli Whiteside apparently was not in the mood to mediate a session in which Victorino and Ramirez shared their feelings with each other. After Victorino stepped forward, and Ramirez stepped off the mound, the Giants catcher started bouncing up and down like a boxer. This prompted Placido Polanco, bad back and all, to charge in from third base. Whiteside attempted to tackle Polanco, but Polanco held his ground and remained upright as Whiteside, a former high school quarterback, wrapped up his lower body.
"I had no intention of charging the mound," Victorino said. "Obviously, Eli felt like, from looking at his reaction, that I was going to go and he started jumping around. Polanco came in and he tackled Polanco and everything escalated from there."
Later, as Victorino recounted his version of the events, Polanco was sitting at a table eating Chinese food and listening to the interview.
"He did not tackle me!" Polanco shouted after overhearing Victorino claim otherwise.
Both benches and bullpens spilled around Polanco and Whiteside, with Brian Schneider and Carlos Ruiz ending up at the bottom of the pile. Screen captures of the incident appear to show a Giants player locking Ruiz in a choke hold. But all the participants said later they emerged unscathed. No punches were thrown on the Phillies side, although it took umpires awhile to restore order.
Victorino was restrained at first by an umpire, then by Phillies hitting coach Greg Gross before finally breaking free and tackling a member of the Giants coaching staff, in what Victorino said was an attempt to free Ruiz from the aforementioned choke hold.
Victorino said he did not know if he would get suspended, although he argued that because he did not throw any punches, he should not be subject to one.
Whiteside said after the game that he did not think anybody on the Phillies side had done anything to warrant a purpose pitch. Ramirez was not available for comment.
Nobody on the Phillies side seemed to think that any bad blood would linger into today.
"It was a regular brawl," Polanco said. "It's not the first one you're going to see and it's not going to be the last one."
It's safe to say that the Giants and the Phillies are now officially constitute a rivalry. And like the Phillies' previous NL West rivalry with the Dodgers, Victorino once again is front and center. Afterward, he joked that before long every baseball fan in the state of California is going to hate him.
But he clearly has the respect of his teammates, which right now is all that seems to matter.
^
Lost in all the ruckus was another splendid start by Vance Worley, who allowed two runs in seven innings while improving to 8-1 with a 2.35 ERA. Making it extra special was the fact that he grew up in the Bay Area. A lot of people don't realize that baseball players pay for their own tickets, which for a rookie like Worley can mean a healthy chunk of change. The mohawked righthander said he left eight tickets at willcall. Seven were for his friends and family. The eighth?
"My barber," he said.
^
Here's a great note. Hunter Pence has yet to lose a game since joining the Phillies. Yesterday win was his seventh victory as a Phillie, which is the same number of victories he experienced in his final 30 games as an Astro.
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What a game!- Freedom Fries is lost and trying to find his way back home to the Bay Area, apparently. You don't quit playing the game in the 6th inning. That's nonsense. Beltran said something about Rollins stealing but only a loser like Beltran would know about quitting like that. The Mets stunk every since he got there and the Giants have stunk since he arrived there too. The 6th inning is fair game for a steal unless it's 13-1 or something really ridiculous like that. Victorino didn't do anything either, ya moron. The pitcher is the one who came in 40 feet from the mound towards Victorino and the catch was the one dancing around like an idiot and tackling Polanco and trying to start something. The Giants got spanked by their Daddy and they were ticked off. Whiteside said it was a 2 seamer inside that got away. Since when does a RH pitcher's 2 seamer break left instead of right? He also said he "played some QB in high school." What a tool. Did he do a lot of tackling as a QB in high school? Must not have been much of a QB if he was known for his tackling. I hope the Phils sweep those low-class bums right into the Bay this weekend!— JimG
- was there and yes Bochy is a punk, and so is Panda for sucker punching and kicking Victorino and for chokehold dumping Schneider...i dvrd the game and watched the video a few times...Vic and Sandoval will be out a game or two.— sedale
- I'm embarrassed to be a Phillies fan. Victorino needs to grow a pair in my opinion. When you start to charge the mound, don't stop. You're going to get thrown out of the game most likely, so get your money's worth. You have a major speed advantage on the catcher, and can get an MMA move or two in on the pitcher before both benches join in. "Where McCava" to question if Victorino is a real man, because I don't think so.
- I am a proud Phillies fan, and when you cross that line and go towards the mound, get your money's worth. The good part about being a player opposed to a pitcher is that Victorino will only get a 3 or 4 game suspension, and Ramirez will get 5 or 6 minimum. Did you see Hunter Pence being the first man into the fight last night? That's a real man. Polanco was second in: another real man, bad back and all. Roy Oswalt, who is technically on the DL, was on the bottom of the pile. Once again, real man. I rest on your face.
- You're either a Giants fan or a complete idiot. If the latter, I'm embarrassed you're an alleged Phillies fan. — DennyP
- I'm embarrassed you're a so called phillies fan, you're a total disgrace! — twpman
- Bye. Pirates could use a mope like you. Victorino acted like a pro - it was only until Ramirez charge him that Vic pushed aside the ump and went for it. Did you miss the part when the SF coach (didn't see which) pulled off Vic's helmet so that what - his wimpy pitcher could take a better swing at him? — tsdguy
- Pirates can use some testicular fortitude with the way that they got swept by the Cubs and game up 15 runs to an abysmal Padre offense. Victorino was more of a man last year (or two years ago) when he charged the home plate umpire from 300 ft away.
- As a Giants fan, your take on the brawl has been hilarious so far. I will give you that you won the baseball part, and you do have the momentum at this point. As far as the comments on Panda "sucker punching" Victorino and Bochy ochestrating the fight, I suggest you pay more attention. Victorino charged a hitting coach who had his back turned, thats a punk move. Props for a nice right by Pablo. Bochy has nothing to do with this. We have enough trouble beating the Padres let alone the Phils, we come everyday and play the same way. And uh, Polanco did hit the mat, but it did take quite a while. Pretty mediocre effort on Whiteside's part. But anyways, what we all want is interesting baseball and it should be a could run into October for both teams. Until then...— 415Rider
- As a Phillies fan who has returned to my City from wretched NYC, I always wonder about the psychology of a troll who has to come here from another city, because you have no life. It is proper we be here, but I can't ever see registering at "The Chronicle". Yes, we have the momentum, the offense, the pitching, and best of all, your number. Phils will sweep the Giants and show you one time wonders an early exit. The D-backs will catch you....
- Did you even see the fight? Victorino clearly fell into that coach...go watch it again. Someone had Victorino'sjersey and let go,and he flew forward...
As a Giants fan you should be embarassed that your team reacted to losing that badly. I always felt the Giants were playing with big heads, and this just goes to show it. They are showing more energy towards the Phils than the DBacks, and they are barely in first place. That is low-class.
The Giants are something like 11 games back on the Phils. They would barely be in the playoff race if they were in the NLE, and they don't even have to play the Braves 18 times a year.
Hopefully this was a wake-up call for them that they need to work on a lot of things before they try taking down the best team in baseball. It's one thing to win it all in a year. It's another thing to hold it down yearly. The Giants havent proven they can do that yet.— MFPhils - I like how Whiteside was dancing like a ballerina after Shane got hit. So you know he called for the beanball. — jayarby
