After Major League Baseball decided to give Houston Astros players immunity for telling the truth about their sign-stealing scandal that led to winning the 2017 World Series, it seems to be the consensus that players around the league would take matters into their own hands.
The first team that appeared to do so was the Los Angeles Dodgers, as Joe Kelly threw a pitch behind Alex Bregman’s head during their two-game series at Minute Maid Park earlier this season. After Kelly struck out Carlos Correa to end the inning, the two exchanged some words and the benches cleared momentarily, although nothing came of it.
Despite Kelly not hitting anyone and the Astros players coming towards the Dodgers dugout to attempt to start an altercation, the Kelly was the only player suspended for his action. He originally was given an eight-game ban, although the league reduced it to five games after an appeal.
According to Jorge Castillo of the L.A. Times, the MLB Players Association reportedly was not happy with Kelly’s suspension:
“While we understand the concerns raised by the league with respect to a bench-clearing incident during this challenging season, we’re extremely disappointed by the decision,” said a union official not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. “It was an unfair result for Joe Kelly given the cases presented.”
MLB has made it clear that they don’t want benches-clearing altercations this season due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which is certainly fair given the outbreaks the league has already had to deal with.
The issue though is that the Astros were every bit as responsible for the benches clearing, with even their manager Dusty Baker calling Kelly names from the dugout throughout the course of the inning. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was suspended a game even though he didn’t do anything, while Baker was only fine.
Kelly sounds off on Astros, MLB in podcast appearance/h2>
Kelly recently got the chance to tell his side of the story, appearing on teammate Ross Stripling’s “Big Swing Podcast” and sounding off on both the Astros and MLB.
Kelly revealed Correa even spat towards the Dodgers dugout at one point, which definitely shouldn’t be acceptable with the nature of the pandemic.
In addition to the MLBPA taking issue with Kelly’s suspension, other players around the league also came to Kelly’s defense. The Astros have already gotten into another brawl this season with the Oakland Athletics, so it remains clear that nobody cares much for that team and its players.
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