Jason Kendall was suspended four games for charging the mound to fight John Lackey, because Lackey said something to him Kendall didn't like.
He appealed the suspension, and is now dropping the appeal, but also had some ridiculous comments about the incident and MLB:
The fact that they won't knock anything off is embarrassing to the game because the game has changed. Now you can't really defend yourself. I understand I have to be suspended, but it's not like I went out and picked a fight. Nothing would have happened if he wouldn't have said anything to me, if he wouldn't have taken three steps hard at me," Kendall said.
Lackey threw a pitch to Kendall that started out high and inside, then sharply broke back toward the plate in the sixth inning of Oakland's 10-3 win. Kendall backed out of the batter's box, then suddenly charged the mound after Lackey said something about his elbow pad.
Kendall charged the mound and wrestled Lackey to the ground, emptying both dugouts and bullpens.
"I get called out by Lackey. He calls me out and disrespects me and I'm supposed to sit here and have him yell at me? So basically what Major League Baseball is saying is that any big league pitcher out there can yell at somebody and get fined $2,000. That's what the fine was," Kendall said.
MLB's latest disciplinary action against Kendall comes after he received a four-game suspension in August 2004 while with Pittsburgh for a similar scuffle when he charged the mound in a game against Colorado after being hit by now-teammate Joe Kennedy. The pitcher received a five-game suspension for the incident.
"I think the big thing was this was my fourth time, and all four of the fights I've been into has been about sticking up for myself or sticking up for my pitcher. I guess they don't look at that," Kendall said. "People that are making decisions have never been in a situation like that. They wait for situations like this to happen so they can have this big power. And that's what they did. They have the power right now."
Yeah, why can't MLB let men be men? If someone disrespects Jason Kendall, Jason Kendall should have the right to fight that guy on the field...