Prince Fielder in No Mood to Joke After Laugher
Dodgy behavior after slugger beaned
By RASHID S. UMAR
Updated 8:19 PM EDT, Wed, Aug 5, 2009
It may not be wise to anger a burly slugger who has a recent history of meltdowns during the heat of battle, but it may wise for him to think before reacting.
Tuesday night’s game at Dodger Stadium between the Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers may have been a laugher on the scoreboard, but not all were in such a good mood.
The Brewers' home run derby champion, Prince Fielder was upset after being plunked by Dodger pitcher (and former teammate) Guillermo Mota with two outs in the 9th inning as LA rolled to a 17-4 victory.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
After Mota hit Fielder, plate umpire Marvin Hudson tossed Mota. Fielder fell to the dirt, got up, and held his arms out in Mota's direction looking for some kind of explanation. Mota never looked at Fielder and walked straight off the mound, only looking back after he was in foul territory.
After the game Fielder was heard shouting obscenities in the direction of the Dodger clubhouse and then sought out the right-hander for confrontation but Mota had already left the dugout. Later while accompanied by a few teammates, Fielder proceeded through the tunnel to the Dodger locker room where he had to be restrained and was urged by stadium security to leave.
Fielder was apparently upset because he felt that the pitch was an intentional retaliation to Brewers reliever Chris Smith plunking Dodgerfan-favorite Manny Ramirez two innings prior.
When Fielder finally got back to the visitor’s locker room, he had calmed down enough to answer questions from the media.
Although tempers seem to have cooled between the players, Fielder may face punishment from Major League Baseball.
According to the LA Times:
Major League Baseball spokesman Pat Cortney confirmed this morning that Bob Watson, baseball's chief disciplinarian, is investigating Tuesday night's altercation in which Milwaukee Brewers slugger Prince Fielder tried to enter the Dodgers' clubhouse. Fines and suspensions could result from the first baseman charging into a tunnel underneath the stadium.
The two teams wrap up their three-game series Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
An MLB spokesman confirmed Wednesday that the league is investigating the altercation.
First Published: Aug 5, 2009 3:00 PM EDT on NBC Los Angeles
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