It’s a day that ends in -Y. The Kansas City Royals are pissing teams off by throwing at players once again.
Sunday’s situation in Toronto started in the first inning when Edinson Volquez hit Josh Donaldson with the first pitch of his at bat.
(video here because MLBAM is stupid)
Note that home plate umpire Jim Wolf warns both benches after the plunking, which would seemingly imply that any further beanballs would result in an ejection.
In the third, Volquez was at it again, throwing up and in on Donaldson. He wasn’t ejected despite the warning, much to the chagrin of Jays manager John Gibbons.
In the seventh, with Volquez removed from the game, Ryan Madson hit Troy Tulowitzki in the arm with the seventh pitch in his at bat.
(video here because MLBAM is stupid)
During the next at bat, Madson would throw up and in on Donaldson *again*. The Royals hurler wasn’t ejected, but Gibbons was.
Our story continues into the eighth inning, when Aaron Sanchez of the Jays hit Alcides Escobar in the leg….and was ejected along with bench coach Demarlo Hale, just before both benches cleared and the Royals began to act outraged for whatever reason.
Let’s summarize things, shall we?
-Josh Donaldson plunked, both benches warned.
-Josh Donaldson thrown at, no ejection.
-Troy Tulowitzki plunked, no ejection.
-Josh Donaldson thrown at again, Donaldson’s manager ejected.
-Alcides Escobar plunked, Donaldson’s teammate ejected.
The Blue Jays didn’t respond until the *fourth* incident of a Toronto player getting thrown at. Yet, all three of the people ejected from this game were Blue Jays.
If an umpire is going to dish out a warning and then ignore his own proclamation *three times*, what’s the damn point of the warning in the first place?
Oh, and in case you’re curious as to whether or not Volquez was throwing at Donaldson, his post-game comments should go ahead and remove all of your doubts.
Edinson Volquez on Josh Donaldson: "He's a little baby. He was crying like a baby."
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) August 2, 2015
More Volquez on Donaldson: "He's not Barry Bonds. He's got three years in the league."
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) August 2, 2015
Volquez said Donaldson "pimped" HRs this series. "If somebody hits you, you’ve got to take it, because you’re pimping everything you do.”
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) August 2, 2015
Ryan Madson did the safe thing and didn’t admit to throwing at Donaldson, but did insult him nonetheless.
Ryan Madson said for Josh Donaldson "to get that upset, I don’t think he fully understands the game."
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) August 2, 2015
More Madson: “If I’m going to hit someone intentionally, I’m doing it on the first pitch. And I’m going to hit you.”
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) August 2, 2015
You know why this situation escalated the way it did? Because Wolf ignored the warning he issued less than ten pitches into the game. If he ejected Volquez for throwing at Donaldson in the third, that would have been any uproar about the situation at all.
But Wolf let Kansas City do whatever they wanted with no consequences, intentional or not, and finally pulled the trigger on an ejection when Toronto eventually ended up retaliating. Ridiculous.
