Manny Machado Suspended 5 Games For Bat-Throwing Incident; Appealing Suspension
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Suspended for five games and fined. That's the punishment handed down to Orioles All-Star third baseman Manny Machado by Major League Baseball for throwing his bat. But Tuesday night, Machado was back at the plate.
Christie Ileto has reaction to the suspension.
Manny Machado stepped up to the plate hours after the league announced the fan favorite was suspended for five games and fined for throwing a bat in poor play during Sunday's game against the Oakland Athletics. It happened after he was thrown two straight brushback pitches.
"I did what I did and he did what he did and we both got to pay for our consequences," Machado said.
Sunday's bench-clearing incident came after a Friday altercation in which Machado claims he didn't like the manner in which he was tagged out.
"It's a frustrating last couple of days but it's all part of the game and you have to put it behind you," he said.
Apologetic for his bad behavior, the 21-year-old's teammates stood by him as they tried to move forward.
"He's a good kid. He means well and he made a bad decision," said coach Buck Showalter.
"He knows he screwed up and he has to serve his suspension and we move on," said player Chris Davis.
The five game suspension is drawing mixed reaction from fans. Some say it's too excessive; some say it's not enough.
"He got what he deserved," said fan Gary Williams.
"It didn't hit anybody. It didn't do any harm except you're probably not supposed to do it," said Ron Dillon. "But five games! That's a lot."
"I love Manny Machado---I love the Orioles---but what he did was wrong," said Marvin Wright.
And for Machado, this punishment is a lesson learned.
"You learn from it, just try to put it behind you and go about your business," Machado said.
Oakland Athletics player Fernando Abad was also fined an undisclosed amount for intentionally throwing at Machado.
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