Joe Kelly suspended 8 games for throwing at an astro

OurF'ingCity

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It is a bit weird to me that there would be this big of a suspension given that Kelly wasn’t even tossed from the game - one would think the home plate ump would be in the best position to determine, in real time, whether the pitches were intentional.

Ultimately, as funny as it was, I think Kelly fucked himself by his mocking of Correa after the inning, which both suggested he was intentionally going after the Astros and caused a benches-cleared situation which the league has a very strong incentive to punish this year in particular.
 

E5 Yaz

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I disagree. The Astros deserve to get thrown at. They stole at least one championship. If the MLB won't punish them, I think the players should. I don't want to see any pitches anywhere near the head, but I would love to see multiple batters get plunked in their ribs or legs. This season will be canceled anyway, and there are no fans to relentlessly boo them all game long. That level of cheating deserves this level of punishment.
I'd offer a rebuttal, but I'm too busy laughing
 

cornwalls@6

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It is a bit weird to me that there would be this big of a suspension given that Kelly wasn’t even tossed from the game - one would think the home plate ump would be in the best position to determine, in real time, whether the pitches were intentional.

Ultimately, as funny as it was, I think Kelly fucked himself by his mocking of Correa after the inning, which both suggested he was intentionally going after the Astros and caused a benches-cleared situation which the league has a very strong incentive to punish this year in particular.
That's a good point. Doing anything that could incite a bench clearing brawl, in this environment, and given the Marlins situation, may very well have played into the harshness of the discipline, and should have. Also, just generally, I'd venture to say that if anyone wandered onto many opposing NFL fan message boards anytime since spy gate or deflate gate, you likely would have encountered some mouth breathers advocating for someone to take Brady's knee out, or intentionally injure some other Patriot, the cheating bastards(s). And most of this place would have been up in arms about it. I fully realize that anything the Pats were accused of doesn't rise to the level of what the Astros did, but the principle is the same. The league hands out the discipline on these things, for better or worse. Advocating for vigilante justice, that could absolutely result in serious injuries, is foolish, reactionary, bullshit.
 

Average Reds

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Whether 8 games is too much or just right is angels on the head of a pin stuff. The pitch at Bregman is indefensible.
It was *behind* his head, which every analyst I've ever heard says is worse, because a player's natural reaction is to back into it.
And Kelly's lack of control is irrelevant, IMO, and no less reckless. Blind man shoots gun.
I made a snarky comment about the incident in the game thread based on seeing the breaking ball thrown to Correa. Having now seen the entire sequence, I have to agree with you.

Throwing a fastball - especially a Joe Kelly fastball - behind someone's head is serious business. No matter how much contempt I have for the Astros, that has to be punished.
 

Moonlight Graham

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at least one?

are your feelings about punishment the same in real life as they are in baseball? Do you have a posse?
Really? Do I have a posse? This is sports, where players compete against each other physically and often physically punish each other on the field: hard retribution fouls in basketball and soccer, groin punches in the pile after tackles in football, hard slides in baseball, etc. It's part of the context of athletic competition. Another example is the treatment Daubach received for crossing the picket line. You can call it vigilante justice if you want, but they handled it between the lines, not at his home or anywhere else outside the zone of competition. I call it sticking up for yourself and your teammates on the field of competition. Another way to think about it: if a guy comes up and punches a someone in the head, should he be arrested? Does it matter if it occurred on the ice between players during a hockey game, between boxers during a boxing match, or between two guys waiting in line at the post office? Context matters.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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You were off on your "at least one"

I say you are off on your vigilante justice defense, too. It's not up to Joe Kelly and the next day's pitcher and the next day's pitcher, etc, to determine the proper punishment for the "crime".
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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If he threw at his head its fucked up; Watching him for a handful of years and seeing IG posts showing him not even able to avoid his house window with a pitch, I'm a tad reticent to say he has that much control, but reasonable minds can differ.

That is after it went viral. I may have to start observing "Joe Kelly Friday" though.
Come on dude. Really? That's what you're goin with?
 

Rovin Romine

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I objectively know what the correct answer is to the question of whether JK is justified in throwing at other players.

(I really do want there to be some kind of exception for it here though.)
 

bankshot1

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Doesn't a starter usually get a 5-6 game suspension in these type of situations to guarantee they miss one start?

8-games seems overly punitive to send a message and protect the Astros.

I suspect an appeal and MLB knocks off 2-3 games.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29648250/dodgers-joe-kelly-suspension-reduced-5-games-appeal-sources-say
Los Angeles Dodgers hard-throwing reliever Joe Kelly has had his eight-game suspension for throwing at Houston Astros players reduced to five on appeal, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel.
 

Gash Prex

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Seems that Kelly's animus is more directed at the players for throwing Cora under the bus than anything

Kelly was not a member of the Dodgers in 2017, when the Astros beat Los Angeles to win the World Series, but in 2018, Kelly pitched for Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who had been Houston's bench coach. Cora was strongly implicated in the findings of the sign-stealing investigation and was suspended for the 2020 season, along with Houston manager A.J. Hinch, Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow and veteran slugger Carlos Beltran, who had been hired to manage the New York Mets for the 2020 season. Cora, Hinch, Luhnow and Beltran all lost their respective jobs following the release of the findings.

"The people who took the fall for what happened is nonsense," Kelly said. "Yes, everyone is involved. But the way that (sign-stealing system) was run over there was not from coaching staff. ... They're not the head boss in charge of that thing. It's the players. So now the players get the immunity, and all they do is go snitch like a little bitch, and they don't have to get fined, they don't have to lose games."

"When you take someone's livelihood ... to save your own ass, that's what I don't like. Cheating? They cheated. Everyone knows they're cheaters. They know they're cheaters. It's over. That's done with. But now they mess it up by ruining other people's lives, so they f----- it up twice. ... When you taint someone's name to save your own name, this is one of the worst things that you could probably do. ... That really friggin' bugs me. I think I'll be irritated forever."

Kelly spoke of how much he cared about Cora, and how Cora's life has been changed by the fallout. Cora would love to explain what happened, Kelly said, "but he hasn't, because he's a respectable man. So when (the Astros) lie" - by deflecting blame onto staffers - "that doesn't sit right with me."
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29651830/los-angeles-dodgers-joe-kelly-sounds-houston-astros-players-handling-sign-stealing-investigation
Its very unfortunate that Cora is no longer the coach of the Red Sox (for understandable reasons)
 

Marciano490

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Average Reds

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Seems that Kelly's animus is more directed at the players for throwing Cora under the bus than anything



https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29651830/los-angeles-dodgers-joe-kelly-sounds-houston-astros-players-handling-sign-stealing-investigation
Its very unfortunate that Cora is no longer the coach of the Red Sox (for understandable reasons)
I like Joe Kelly and admire his loyalty. I also believe that his heart is in the right place. His actions were still indefensible.

Throwing 98 behind someone’s head is never justified.
 

Rovin Romine

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I like Joe Kelly and admire his loyalty. I also believe that his heart is in the right place. His actions were still indefensible.

Throwing 98 behind someone’s head is never justified.
Not justified, but it should have been rendered a completely contemptible action in light of MLB's response. The fact that people didn't react by saying, "JK - that's just too over-the-top" tells you a lot about the popular perception of how MLB handled things.
 

JCizzle

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Not justified, but it should have been rendered a completely contemptible action in light of MLB's response. The fact that people didn't react by saying, "JK - that's just too over-the-top" tells you a lot about the popular perception of how MLB handled things.
Also, Chapman only got 3 games for what the MLB deemed an intentional pitch to the head area.