Kevin Youkilis (suspended for 5 games)

[jdpapa3]

I also think they need to change the suspension rules. There are a lot of pitchers out there that will throw at guys and the worst that can happen to them is an ejection from the game. The batter can suffer a pretty serious injury from getting beaned and they aren't allowed to retaliate in any fashion. If a pitcher is man enough to bean someone, then they have to be man enough to deal with people charging the mound.

It's sad that someone will have to get hit in the eye or something before changes are made.

All of the sports are going soft in one form or another. Basketball with the excessive flagrants, football with the wide receiver/qb overprotection and baseball punishing the batters worse than the pitchers when they have similar intent.

[JSD]

I think the pitcher's panzy reaction led to Youk having second thoughts when he actually got out there. The pitcher was whining and backpedaling when Youk came after him. Youk couldn't have done anything serious at that point because it would have looked like a cheap shot. It's an unfortunate situation where one pansy makes the other guy look like one.

haha, yeah good observation. I'll co-sign here.

[Cman]

Youk should have pulled a flop and fallen to both knees, acted really hurt, grimaced to the umpire and through clenched teeth whimper "that's twice!"; pitcher would have been ejected, Youk could then grimace some more, but eventually "walk it off" and keep on hitting.  Why don't we see more of this?
 

[CbrewEra]

Shoulda/Coulda dropped that little pitcher, instead made himself look like weak goin at him half heartedly.

[Rondo2287]

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/gallery/2009/08_12_09_redsox_fights/

Who looks like the pansy there?

[incoherent]

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/gallery/2009/08_12_09_redsox_fights/

Who looks like the pansy there?

the pitcher

[Cman]

My favorite: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/gallery/2009/08_12_09_redsox_fights?pg=6
 

[Riles335]

Who gives a rats ass? Anyone can be dropped in a situation like that. Porcello could have easily been dropped on his back and Youkilis could have easily been hip tossed...who gives. It's about sending a message. What Youkilis did last night was 100 percent correct. It sent a message to the rest of the league that the Sox, despite being in a semi-free fall won't be push overs. That's what its about. From now on, Pitchers will think twice about throwing at guys like Youkilis, Bay, and Ortiz because they will now know that the Red Sox will respond. The whole year Youkilis had been targeted by opposing pitchers and nobody (hitters and pitchers both) were doing anything about it. Last night that changed and it changed for the good. Four, Five, Six games??? Who cares. They sent a message to the rest of the league and it lit a fire up under their asses to get on track.

End of story.

[Redz]

Who gives a rats ass? Anyone can be dropped in a situation like that. Porcello could have easily been dropped on his back and Youkilis could have easily been hip tossed...who gives. It's about sending a message. What Youkilis did last night was 100 percent correct. It sent a message to the rest of the league that the Sox, despite being in a semi-free fall won't be push overs. That's what its about. From now on, Pitchers will think twice about throwing at guys like Youkilis, Bay, and Ortiz because they will now know that the Red Sox will respond. The whole year Youkilis had been targeted by opposing pitchers and nobody (hitters and pitchers both) were doing anything about it. Last night that changed and it changed for the good. Four, Five, Six games??? Who cares. They sent a message to the rest of the league and it lit a fire up under their asses to get on track.

End of story.

The new Red Sox

[PRIDE]

Athletes are role models. You can't expect Youk to charge the mound throwing haymakers at everyone. Do you know what people would say about that and how that would make him look? Youk charged the mound, as Porcello started backing away he threw his helmet at him and proceeded to tackle him. That was the best way to get his point across without throwing punches and getting a big suspension.

You wont see too many fistfights in pro sports. Smarter players know they can't let their emotions get the best of them or they'll be sitting on the bench for a while. Only in a fit of rage will you see a fight reach that point.

[action781]

I watched the charge over and over again and don't see how Youk is considered a pansy. 
He's not going to land a haymaker when the guy is running backwards. 
He could attempt to spear as has been suggested if he has MMA or WWE experience.  Has anybody ever tried and successfully executed a spear in a real life fight while somebody is a distance away and running backwards?  As equal chance of executing the spear, he had chance of landing flat on his face and getting pummeled.
He went for the only other reasonable option - tackle.  Had Porcello been standing still, he probably would have went down.  But his feet were moving backwards with the momentum that Youk was pushing with, so he stayed up for about 2-3 seconds instead of going straight down.
Nothing pansy about Youk's attempt here.

[Redz]

Youk out for 5 games...I can live with that

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/12057303

[dark_lord]

baseball fights are lame....this one was no different.

[beantownboy171]

Shoulda/Coulda dropped that little pitcher, instead made himself look like weak goin at him half heartedly.

The "little" pitcher was 6 foot 5. Thats what im not getting in this arguement. The pitcher has a size advantage.

(response to other posts.)Also its my feeling that the throwing of the helmet is a strategy in charging the mound to slow down the pitcher because he has to stop backing up to dodge it.

All that said I don't get how youk is the pansy, he not only gets hit in the ribs with a fastball, but it was on an area already bruised up from getting hit on the same spot the night before.

The sox have been trying to pick a fight for a while though, sort of to get the troops rallied and take their minds off getting swept by the yanks (hence throwing at a-rod twice, which i loved). They'll take the suspension once its cut down to like 3-4 games, and play kotchman for a bit. 1B is the one spot their deep.

[beantownboy171]

baseball fights are lame....this one was no different.

The tampa/boston one last year was one of the few exceptions for me.