Cliff Lee Suspended First 5 Games of the Season

[HPC]

NEW YORK (AP)
Seattle Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee has been suspended for the first five games of the regular season for throwing a pitch over the head of Arizona's Chris Snyder in an exhibition game this week.

Lee is in his first season with Seattle. The former AL Cy Young winner was ejected from Monday's game.

Major League Baseball vice president Bob Watson issued the suspension and a fine on Wednesday. If the players' association appeals, the penalty would be delayed until after a hearing and a decision.

 

[AmishDave]

I'll say he HAS to appeal. I recall him being very adement about not intentionally throwing at Snyder. I'd say I'll believe Lee and he'll get a two or three game suspension AFTER he starts on opening day.

 

[MAC16]

What a buch of crap.. Barry Zito doesnt get suspended or fined at all when clearly that was on purpose.. Cliff Lee didn't even hit the guy it went over his head.. it was probly a wild pitch. I wouldn't expect that from a guy like Lee and i absolutely hate the guy. lol

 

[schmidtfan20]

Didn't do any of that in Philly cause he knows he has to hit, now back in the AL where pitchers can get away with
this crap.

 

[HPC]

This story didnt give the whole picture of what happened.

Lee collided with Snyder at homeplate that knocked him over. Chris Snyder gets up to bat, and Lee throws one very inside on him. The next one goes over his head.

That's why he got ejected and now suspended

 

[stu]

They'll appeal and it'll get knocked down to 3 games. Being a starter, he won't miss a game. Just gets moved back a day or two.

 

[donrusscrusademan]

its pretty crazy. guys will bean someone and not get suspended (or even ejected sometimes) yet he throws one wild pitch and gets canned? in spring training??

 

[allstars]

its pretty crazy. guys will bean someone and not get suspended (or even ejected sometimes) yet he throws one wild pitch and gets canned? in spring training??

canned? he'll miss a start in the 1st rotation, still plenty of time to win 20...

 

[donrusscrusademan]

its pretty crazy. guys will bean someone and not get suspended (or even ejected sometimes) yet he throws one wild pitch and gets canned? in spring training??

canned? he'll miss a start in the 1st rotation, still plenty of time to win 20...

yeah still plenty of time but there was a mariners.com article of the options of how they would do it, and they dont want to mess with hernandez' next start so they may make him go later.

 

[allstars]

oh its crap, not denying that ::facepalm::

 

[NYCrulesU]

I don't ever argue about players being suspended, but this is just STUPID. I hope he appeals and it gets knocked down to 1 game.

 

[aaron41984]

I know Cliff well enough (My parents still go to church with his family) to know that he is smart enough to say that he was just trying to get in on the guy and it got away... but he never just lets it get away. He has worked far too hard on his core muscle strength to just let one get away. That said, what is the deal with making baseball such a pansy sport? He sent a message, denied it, and nobody got hurt. MOVE ON! No need for a suspension.

 

[andyduke86]

I don't have a problem at all with pitchers throwing at batters, but there is a right and wrong way to do it. However, throwing at a guy's head is unacceptable under any circumstances, let alone in spring training. Therefore, I don't have a problem with this suspension. I think suspensions are justified only when they throw at a guy's head.

 

[chompsmcgee]

I'd simply like to quote the great Dave Cameron on this one:

"MLB’s selectively enforced rules strike again – they have reportedly suspended Cliff Lee for five games, which may or may not end up being the first five games of the season, depending on who you believe. Lee, as you’ll remember, threw a couple of pitches near Chris Snyder’s head the other day, and baseball decided to send a message, despite the fact that: a) it’s spring training, guys are wild b) No one got hurt and there was no fight c) Chris Snyder does MMA as a hobby, so odds a pretty good that pitchers don’t throw at him on purpose.

This whole thing is ridiculous. The M’s will appeal, of course, and there’s quotes floating around twitter from his agent saying that the suspension may not be applied to the regular season (so they’d suspend him from the Cactus League, I guess). If the suspension is part of the season, the M’s should fight this like crazy. If you assume that Lee’s performance is worth about $20 to $25 million in 2010, then each start is worth around $700,000. That’s not a trivial punishment for the M’s."