Shocker
What did you expect? Seriously, we’ll ask again:
What did you expect?
Joe Kelly threw a 96-mph heater behind Alex Bregman as the Dodgers beat the Astros 5-2 Tuesday night. And then he yawned.
Among the billion things lost in the pandemic was the heated discussion in February about the Houston Cheaters and the revelations about the sign-stealing stories for the Astros during their 2017 run to the World Series.
The team they beat for that 2017 title? Yep, the L.A. Dodgers.
So Kelly, who has had fits of wildness throughout his career, threw that one behind Bregman – and exactly where he wanted to, in my opinion – and mocked Carlos Correa after striking him out.
I have said multiple times that the level of danger in MLB players policing themselves with 95-plus heaters north of the shoulders is extreme. Especially in matters of a guy watching a 500-foot homer for two seconds too long or taking a little extreme time circling the bases.
But, we all talked about this and the avalanche of hatred that Houston was destined to face whenever the season started after baseball announced that the Astros were embroiled in the biggest cheating scandal anyone can remember.
While among the most baseball things to happen in this surreal restart to a 60-game sprint, Kelly’s antics cleared the benches, which during a pandemic brings back the realizations that it’s impossible to socially distance if you are going to fight.
Or, for Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker, if you are going to argue with the umpires.
Baker to reporters after the game: “What are you supposed to do then? And what upset me was the umpires warned us. Why don’t you warn him? He’s the one throwing the ball. He’s the one that started this mess in the first place. I didn’t like it at all.”
No Dusty, your players started this when they reached historic levels of cheating three years ago.
More from Baker, on whether anyone in the Houston dugout said anything to Kelly: “Don’t give him an excuse. No, I’m not giving him any excuse because we didn’t say anything. We don’t start nothing, but we don’t take nothing, either, you know what I’m saying?”
Well, the teams play again tonight. So game on, and raise your hand if you’re surprised by any of this.