Felger & Mazz On: Last Night's Bench Clearing Brawl
Tony Massarotti and guest host Adam "Pacman" Jones discuss last night's bench clearing brawl.
Massarotti: "I don't think Beckett was throwing at either guy. But so be it. He has a reputation of being someone who is a bit of a bully. To me, throwing inside and knocking guys down is part of the game and I think people have gotten way too sensitive about that. I like how he [Beckett] pitches. Quite honestly, I wish more guys would throw like Josh Beckett did last night. It shows that he was feeling good last night when he's got that swagger and that attitude. But if you're on the other side, don't you hate him? Don't you hate that guy? Was he the aggressor? Was he being a bully? Was he being an intimidator? Yes, yes, yes! I would submit that the great power pitchers in history have all been that way. Bob Gibson was the best at it. Don Drysdale used to knock guys down. Pedro, Clemens, were like that. I wish more guys would pitch that way and make it more of a contact sport. You should be trying to intimidate the hitter."
Adam "Pacman" Jones: "You wonder if there's some emotion boiling over from the night before. You could see why a young team would get fired up over Beckett, he did hit their best guy [Choo]. And they decided to retaliate, and they did a bad job at it. They took 2 cracks at it by throwing at Ortiz and then throwing behind Beltre. I don't have a problem with it. You don't want guys feeling comfortable in the box. I don't have a problem with Josh Beckett throwing inside. I don't have a problem with him hitting guys. I don't have a problem with him coming out, getting fired up and in the middle of that melee last night. I thought that was a sign that the Red Sox haven't thrown in the towel."
