Bill Mitchell's Minor League Ramblings

Minor League Ramblings For the week of :
March 4, 2002

Minor League Ramblings is produced by Bill Mitchell for Minor League Watch.

Not your standard, laid-back spring training game
March 9, 2002

Spring training is a time for watching games in a peaceful, laid-back atmosphere. The players are primarily working to get into playing condition, both mentally and physically. It's also a time for them to renew old acquaintances from around the major leagues after a winter apart.

Brouhaha number one - top half of the first inning

But that's not always the case, as we witnessed this afternoon at Tempe Diablo Stadium in the first inning of the game between the Anaheim Angels and the San Diego Padres.

There was apparently an old grudge festering between Anaheim pitcher Aaron Sele and San Diego outfielder Ryan Klesko, dating back to last season's inter-league play when Sele was with the Seattle Mariners.

Sele drilled Klesko with a fastball in the top half of the first inning. The latter, apparently expecting some sort of retribution due to the incident last June, immediately charged the mound and threw several punches at the Angel pitcher. Of course, it wouldn't be a good baseball brawl without both teams' benches and bullpens streaming onto the field for this traditional ritual of the game, and both the Padres and Angels were happy to accommodate.

Order was eventually restored after the field was cleared and first aid was administered to Sele. Klesko was tossed out and the game proceeded. San Diego's Phil Nevin gained revenge for the Padres by proceeding to hit a sharp line drive homerun over the left field fence into the crowd of sunbathers sitting on the Diablo Stadium lawn seats.

Case closed, right?

Wrong. Bobby Jones took the mound for San Diego and showed no signs of looking for payback as Anaheim sent second stringers Orlando Palmeiro and Jose Nieves to the plate. The former popped out to center field, while the latter singled to right field. Up to the plate came the Angels' brightest star and most valuable commodity, third baseman Troy Glaus.

Brouhaha number two - bottom half of the first inning

Jones buzzed a fastball under Glaus' chin on the very first pitch, and the fun started again. Glaus charged the mound, but was tackled from behind before reaching the mound. Benches emptied, the players from the bullpen headed across the field for the melee, and a few players, including the previously-ejected Klesko, came back out of the clubhouse.

This skirmish lasted a few minutes longer, but eventually everyone had their dance around the infield and were sent on their way. Four players were booted this time around --- Jones, Glaus, Nevin and Anaheim's Scott Spiezio. San Diego manager Bruce Bochy was also ejected.

The remainder of the game was relatively uneventful, with San Diego coming from behind to record a 9-4 victory. Two more batters were hit by pitches, more as a result of the inferior pitchers who appear in the late innings of spring training games.

As Harry Caray often said, "You can't beat fun at the old ballpark."

Now just play ball, guys.

--- Bill Mitchell