St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter got into a heated exchange with Houston Astros outfielder Carlos Lee on Wednesday afternoon after he popped out on a hanging breaking pitch.
Lee reacted to missing the pitch, just as thousands of major league hitters have reacted when missing a pitch they knew should have been crushed.
Carpenter took exception to Lee’s reaction, saying something to him as he trotted towards first base after popping up.
Lee stopped about half way to first and responded to Carpenter, with Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina standing in front of him in an effort to avoid having the argument escalate.
Both benches and bullpens emptied onto the field, although nothing beyond words were exchanged between the two teams.
Lee said he yelled in frustration after popping up, but not at Carpenter and noted that the Cardinals pitcher had been vocal after Lance Berkman’s RBI single the previous at-bat.
“I guess he’s allowed to yell and say anything he wants because when Lance got that hit he was screaming and yelling and saying all kinds of stuff,” Lee said. “He can get emotional and we can’t get emotional as hitters?”
Carpenter blamed Lee for the rabble-rousing.
“I guess it’s turned into we’re all supposed to be best friends in this game,” Carpenter said. “I said something, he said something. He kept coming at it. He’s the one that caused everyone to come out, not me.”
No, actually Chris, it was your fault.
Carpenter is a competitor and can sometimes take that spirit too far, just as he did on Wednesday in his overreaction to Lee.
It’s not as if Lee hit a home run and stood at the plate admiring it, like so many players do today. His reaction to missing a pitch that he should have hit did nothing to show up Carpenter.
Fox Midwest analyst Al Hrabosky came to Carpenter’s defense, saying that Lee shouldn’t have responded the way he did, but Hrabosky was defending the wrong guy.
Wednesday’s incident should have never happened because there was nothing for Carpenter to get upset about.
If he intends to say something to every batter that reacts in frustration to missing a pitch, he’s going to create plenty of opportunities for both benches to clear.
Chris Carpenter is supposed to be a leader for St. Louis. His overreaction to Lee set a bad example for his teammates, despite what anyone wants to believe.
