It was nothing more than a little tap, yet it started a brawl that hasn't died.
Last weekend, the Devil Rays' Marlon Anderson didn't like being hit by a pitch thrown by Pittsburgh's Josh Fogg. He made a few nasty comments as he walked down the first-base line and then instigated a brawl when he knocked off the mask of Pirates catcher Jason Kendall with a brush of his forearm.
Several days after, Kendall not only refused to let the incident go, he grew more incensed.
"I'll never forget what happened," Kendall told the Beaver County (Pa.) Times. "I lock that kind of stuff up in my head and it stays there forever. I don't know when our paths will cross again, but they will. And when our paths cross, I'll remember, don't worry."
Kendall said Anderson worked in a few extra shots when Kendall was helpless at the bottom of the pile after the brawl was in full swing.
"If you want to fight me, let's go one-and-one," Kendall said. "Let's step outside, let's go in some closet and fight it out. I don't wait until you are at the bottom of the pile and then start taking cheap shots. That's ridiculous. I don't operate that way. If you want to fight, be a man and fight."
Kendall wasn't done.
"When you get hit, you do one of two things: either charge the mound or shut up and go to first base," Kendall said. "We didn't hit him on purpose. Why would we want to put a .120 hitter on base when we could have easily just gotten him out?"
Anderson was hitting .244 at the time, but we get Kendall's point.
The only bad part is the Rays and Pirates, obviously, don't play again this season, and there's a chance Anderson and Kendall never will cross paths again. Actually, come to think of it, that's probably a good thing.
CHUCK ONE IN HERE: Free-agent pitcher Chuck Finley recently turned down an offer to join his old team, the Angels. He said he has several offers and worked out for the Red Sox. He was hoping something could get done with Anaheim.
"But I've always been a starter and I want to remain a starter," Finley said. "They said they didn't have a spot in their rotation, and I understand that."
IRON CHILD: Miguel Tejada last week became the first player in A's history (and just the 34th in the majors) to play in 500 consecutive games. That's the longest active streak, and only Dale Murphy (740) and Joe Carter (507) have had streaks of at least 500 games since Cal Ripken started his record streak of 2,632 games on May 30, 1982.
"I'm pretty proud of that," Tejada said. "It's real hard. Some days your body will be tired. But it's not about this streak, it's just because I really love this game, and one of these days, I won't be able to do it anymore, so I enjoy it every single day."
Tejada said he doesn't think of Ripken's streak. Good idea. He's 13 years shy of the record.
STICK WITH IT: It wasn't a coincidence that the Yankees gave vice president Gene "Stick" Michael a six-year, $4-million contract extension right after the Mets fired general manager Steve Phillips. The Yankees, who had denied the Red Sox permission to speak with Michael, were making sure the Mets didn't make a run at him.
This is Michael's 33rd season with the Yankees as a player, scout, coach, manager, general manager or vice president.
ANGELS IN THE OUTS: The defending champions entered the weekend with 19 of 23 games before the All-Star break against teams with winning records. If they don't pick it up and get back into the thick of the playoff race, they might peddle a few complementary players for prospects. The most likely candidates could be designated hitter Brad Fullmer and reliever Ben Weber.
KRIS CROSS: The Pirates have let it be known they are willing to deal starting pitcher Kris Benson, who will make $6.1-million next season. A former first overall pick out of Clemson, Benson only has shown flashes of being the ace everyone thought he would be. He is 35-39 in the majors, and the Pirates are not convinced he will get much better. Teams that might be interested in Benson include Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati and Florida. But the Pirates might give Benson the rest of the season to see if he improves.
CONGRATS, IT'S A BLOWN SAVE: Houston closer Billy Wagner had a string of 16 converted saves snapped Wednesday, but give the guy a break. He didn't get to the park until the second inning because his wife had delivered the couple's third child earlier in the day, and he had to pick up his in-laws at the airport after that.
No excuse, Wagner said, even though no one expected him to even show up.
"It's my job to close out games," Wagner said. "There's nothing I can do at the hospital."
RAMBLE ON: San Diego's Ryan Klesko said he might waive his no-trade clause if the Padres move him off first and don't show improvement.
"I'm tired of getting my (rear end) whipped," Klesko told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "I'm not giving up. ... I love San Diego. But I could still live there in the offseason. I only have a few years left. It's all about winning. I've hung with it this long. I'd hate to leave. I'd like to be part of bringing winning back to San Diego."
STRIKING NUMBERS: Dodgers closer Eric Gagne has 16.3 strikeouts per nine innings. The record is 14.95 per nine innings (minimum: 35 innings) by Wagner in 1999.
On the other end, San Francisco's Kirk Rueter has 25 strikeouts in 90 innings, and in nine of his 16 starts, he has struck out one or fewer.
POWER OUTAGE: The Dodgers just couldn't wait to deal Eric Karros, because they thought Karros couldn't put up big offensive numbers anymore.
Now a part-timer with the Cubs, Karros came into the weekend with as many homers (seven) as Dodgers so-called slugger Shawn Green. And he did it in 144 fewer at-bats.
That says as much about Green as Karros.
"I wish I knew what it was," said Green, who is on pace for 16 homers and 83 RBIs after hitting 42 homers and driving in 114 runs last season. "Last year, everything clicked. This year, it hasn't clicked."
SHORT HOPS: Runners have stolen 31 bases against Philadelphia's Kevin Millwood, by far the most against any pitcher in the majors. ... The Reds have a staggering nine walkoff victories and, incredibly, the winning hits have been delivered by eight players. Sean Casey is the only one with two. ... Former Ray Fred McGriff missed four games with a groin injury for Los Angeles last week, but he managed to keep from going on the disabled list for the first time in his 17-year career.
- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.
