A’s catcher and former good baseball player Jason Kendall is mad at Major League Baseball because they’re not going to reduce his four-game suspension for charging the mound against John Lackey. “Major League Baseball has turned into a badminton league. They told me I didn’t have any shot of getting my suspension knocked out,” Kendall said.
Well, I hate to quibble. But you did attack a man, almost completely unprovoked. In addition, fuck you, I like badminton.
I love some of Kendall’s explanations here. Let’s have some more Jason Kendall time.
“The fact that they won’t knock anything off is embarrassing to the game because the game has changed. Now you can’t really defend yourself. I understand I have to be suspended, but it’s not like I went out and picked a fight. Nothing would have happened if he wouldn’t have said anything to me, if he wouldn’t have taken three steps hard at me.”
Actually, it is like you went out and picked a fight. It is exactly like that. It doesn’t matter if John Lackey said something mean to you… if you run out and try to beat him up, you’re going to be suspended. That’s just the rule. I know it’s a cruel, cruel, world when you can’t defend yourself against “three hard steps” and the taunts of a fellow competitor, but sometimes, we have to try. No one’s saying you’re not a tough guy, but there are times to keep the fists to yourself. What else ya got for us, catcher?
“I get called out by Lackey. He calls me out and disrespects me and I’m supposed to sit here and have him yell at me? So basically what Major League Baseball is saying is that any big league pitcher out there can yell at somebody and get fined $2,000. That’s what the fine was.”
I’m really sorry someone yelled at you, man. You could have yelled back. You could just gotten in the batter’s box and taken him deep. Actually, no, you probably couldn’t have done that. But, you know… you do not have the right to beat up every opposing player who says something mean to you.
insomniac
Dammit…you wrote exactly what I’d planned on writing tonight. This is what I get for wasting my night getting my ass kicked at online poker.
May 10, 2006 at 2:01 am
The Big Picture
kendall probably stole lackey’s lunch money too. fucker.
May 10, 2006 at 2:12 am
Adam
As an As fan I firmly side with MLB on this issue. In fact, I believe they have been going easy on him. How dare he charge the mound, then appeal and eventually complain about his generous 4 game suspension! That is an outrage! I propose that they make an example of Jason Kendell and ban him from baseball forever, and stirke his massive contract from the books. That will teach that little asshole some respect!
May 10, 2006 at 8:53 am
JMD
Baseball might as well go ahead and make every suspension completely asinine, because no matter what they’re all getting appealed. So they could have given Kendall like, 8 games…then had him appeal and been like “We cut it down to 4, what else do you want?”
May 10, 2006 at 10:53 am
Mr Furious
Kendall needs to sit the fuck down and shut up. Maybe if he had actually been struck by the ball (as opposed to a pitch that ended up in the strike zone) he might have a point. But charging the mound because somebody looks at you funny? Throw the book at him.
May 10, 2006 at 11:00 am
BobZilla
Now I am going to take the opposing view on this. For the past few years, the A’s have been by and large a bunch of boring choir boys. It is nice to see that they now have a few crazies like Jason Kendall and Milton Bradley to add some spice to their games. Of course, Bradley has been very quite this season, but mark my words…it is only a matter of time before he forgets to take his meds, and go apeshit in the field, and pop a cap into someone’s ass.
May 10, 2006 at 12:40 pm
Adam
Yes, Bobzilla but Jason Kendell is also terrible at baseball. He’s seriously the worst player in the entire major leagues. I’m actually rooting for him to horrifically hurt his ankle again; he’s caused me that much pain with his poor play. Any potential joy that his fighting and craziness brings me is expoentially outweighted by his badness. Now, were Milton Bradley (or Frank Thomas, you forgot him on your crazy list) to go crazy and beat Ken Mancha to death with his bear hands at some point, that would make me smile.
May 10, 2006 at 3:45 pm
Dan McGowan
Adam might be right. Kendall might be the worst player in all of baseball. Didn’t he used to be pretty good?
May 10, 2006 at 5:04 pm
Tom
Kendall was a .300 hitter for several seasons in Pittsburgh. However, he was supposedly a jerk in the locker room (along with his pal, Brian Giles). Thus, his current problem is not a surprise. He is the son, by the way, of former major leaguer Fred Kendall.
May 10, 2006 at 7:58 pm
Adam
Yeah was one of the better hitting catchers in baseball for quite awhile, but he’s been embarassingly bad in Oakland. Somehow Ken Macha refuses to realize this and not only continues to play him everyday, but for most of last year batted him near the top of the order. This is because Ken Macha is fucking retarded.
May 10, 2006 at 10:32 pm
insomniac
To be fair, Giles was most likely a jerk b/c of ‘roid rage. He’s far more pleasant now that he’s mediocre for his hometown Padres.
May 10, 2006 at 11:59 pm
CheeseheadPete
Typical self absorbed baby! Even to call this a fight is a joke. It was a “tackle”. then teammates tried to pull them apart. Anyone ever see any blood in a baseball fight? No Because they’re ridiculous. How often is a punch thrown?
I never would include Mr. Nolan Ryan with the Jason Kendalls. Mr Ryan made Robin Ventura his bitch.
May 11, 2006 at 7:18 pm