Let’s take this one at a time.
1. On Tuesday, Manny Machado Decided He Wasn’t Going to Take it Anymore.
Just to give you some background. The Kansas City Royals have a pitcher named Yordano Ventura and he’s kind of a jerk. He’s a known beanballer, meaning he intentionally throws at batters when do something to piss him off (e.g., get a lot of hits off him). Early in the game, he brushed Manny off the plate, and the two started jawing at each other. If you ask us, right then and there, the crew chief should’ve issued warnings to both benches. He didn’t. So what happened in the fifth was almost inevitable: Ventura hit Manny in the back with a 99 mph fastball. Needless to say, Machado didn’t take kindly to this and charged the mound. A melee ensued and both benches cleared. A few things to look for in the video:
Ventura was clearly ready to fight, as he took off his hat and glove in a “come at me, bro” way as Manny charged.
He clearly wasn’t ready enough, because Manny got in one good right hook before he got pounced on by Royals.
In the video below, take note of Chris Davis charging out of the dugout. He and the Royals have a bit of history.
2. Right after the brawl and ejection, Trumbo and Chris Davis hit back to back home runs. And it was beautiful.
3. Manny’s charge and punches got a lot of attention around the web:
There was this tweet from former Raven Torrey Smith:
And this offer of free crabs for life from an impressed
Jimmy’s Seafood House:
Free crab cakes, steamed crabs, and meal prep FOR LIFE for Manny Machado. Real man - definitely not SAWFT!!! pic.twitter.com/00Qq3JCV93 — Jimmy's Seafood (@JimmysSeafood) June 8, 2016
There were memes galore, including this beauty from Nick Pants:
pic.twitter.com/FPK18aLyrQ — nick pants (@nick_pants) June 8, 2016
Most people were #TeamManny
#TeamManny
Yordana Ventura is a hot-headed moron. — Matt Castello (@mcastello32) June 8, 2016
Better still, the Orioles swept the series from the defending World Champs!
4. But then the hammer dropped.
On Thursday, Major League Baseball issued a four game suspension to Manny. Oh well, every silver lining has its cloud…or something like that.
And in non-Manny related news…
5. The Ravens really love The Bachelorette, Dennis Pitta in particular.