On Wednesday night in Seattle, the Angels' Jered Weaver did his part to make sure that the pace of play in baseball would continue to improve. The Mariners' Kyle Seager was taking too long to get ready to hit -- in Weaver's opinion -- and after Seager finally settled in, Weaver drilled him. It was a fastball that registered at 83 mph, but I'm sure it still hurt a little. Weaver was ejected.
This took me back to 2000 when Jered's brother Jeff also intentionally drilled a hitter after a verbal confrontation.
What you don't see in this video is that before that pitch Magglio Ordonez asked the home plate umpire to check the baseball. With his low three-quarter arm slot, Weaver generated lots of movement on his pitches. Weaver took offense to the insinuation that he was scuffing the baseball and let Magglio know how he felt about it. What ensued was one of the greatest brawls baseball has ever seen. In the aftermath, a total 16 players and coaches were suspended for a total of 82 games.
There's a lesson here: Don't make a Weaver brother angry when he's on the mound. And while there is no relation, I'm sure Earl Weaver would be proud.
