Four games into the 2015 season, bad blood is already brewing between the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres.
Check out this confrontation on Thursday night between Angel Pagan and Derek Norris, which culminate in Craig Kimbrel throwing a fastball a bit up and in on Pagan.
So, what spurred this confrontation?
Gum. Of course, it was gum. From Dennis Lin of UT San Diego…
Giants center fielder Angel Pagan picked up a piece of chewed gum in the batter’s box and tried to toss it away, but the refuse landed by the feet of catcher Derek Norris, who took exception.
Norris and Pagan had some strong words for each other after the game.
Later, Norris said this: “I just kicked it back and asked him, ‘What are you doing?’ He had some choice words, and that obviously didn’t sit too well with me.”
Pagan said he’d had too much stickum on his batting glove. “(Norris) gave me some stuff about it,” Pagan said. “We started arguing.”
[…]
The postgame discourse suggested there might be lingering feelings. Pagan said Norris overreacted. Norris said Pagan “was just being kind of a (expletive).”
So much anger and rage over….gum.
Kimbrel also jawed with Pagan after getting a double play from Casey McGehee to end the top of the ninth. After the game, he also tersely admitted that the pitch up and in to Pagan “just happened” and that he was “wild today”.
To briefly recap the NL West…
-The Giants and Padres hate each other
-The Giants and Dodgers hate each other
-The Dodgers and Padres will probably hate each other by the end of their next series
-The Diamondbacks hate everyone, but no one but the Pirates and Brewers hate them
-The Rockies are still a Major League Baseball team
This is going to be a fun division in 2015.
