Fight Night: The Aftermath

Coco Crisp will be suspended for his actions in last night’s brawl – that’s no surprise. But what is surprising is that Jon Lester also earned himself a suspension… as did Nicest Guy On Earth Sean Casey. Although the reasons are not published, it’s fairly easy to guess why Coco, Lester and Casey will be riding the pine.

Coco- 7 game suspension, scheduled to begin tonight
Charging the mound, obviously.
*appealed the suspension, will play tonight

Lester – 5 game suspension, to begin tonight
After both benches were warned, hit both Carl Crawford and Akinori Iwamura with a pitch (plus threw behind Willie Aybar).
*accepted the suspension, will miss his next start

Casey – 3 game suspension, to begin June 14th
All I saw was Casey pulling people off of the dogpile on top of James Shields – but apparently MLB thought he was in there throwing punches.
*has not decided whether to accept or appeal the suspension

Four Rays were also handed suspensions: James Shields (6 games), Jonny Gomes (5 games), Edwin Jackson (4 games), Carl Crawford (4 games), and Akinori Iwamura (3 games). The list makes sense, but I’d have given Gomes and Crawford at LEAST 7- preferably 10 games for repeatedly punching a guy in the head who was being held down, 5 to Shields, and 3 to Jackson (like Casey).

Obviously, all of these suspensions- and the timing of their enforcement- is subject to any appeals the players file.

And in other Fight Night news, sources confirmed to both the Globe and ESPN that the cause of the dustup between Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis was Youk’s tendency to pitch a fit in the dugout after a poor at-bat. Per the Globe:

According to three sources, Manny had raised objections to Youkilis throwing equipment around in the dugout after flying deep to center in the fourth inning, and advised him to “cut that (shit) out.” Youkilis apparently didn’t take kindly to the remark, said something, and Manny swiped at him.

And per ESPN Deportes:

A Red Sox source told ESPNdeportes.com’s Enrique Rojas that the cause of the dugout disagreement was Youkilis’ temper following a poor at-bat.

“It all happened because Manny complained about Youkilis’ habit of throwing bats, helmets and other objects in the dugout when he has a bad at-bat, something that has become a constant practice,” the source said.

“Other players have told Youkilis in the past about the situation, which makes him look selfish and that he is more worried about each at-bat than about the team. If Boston is winning easily, there’s no reason to throw objects all over the dugout because of a bad at-bat.

“There was a meeting where the team let Youkilis know that many of his teammates were tired of his explosive reactions for each bad plate appearance. It became very bothersome … more so when the team is winning and it’s in first place. There’s not much room for individualistic attitudes.”