It what was just a small, verbal confrontation between the New York Mets Francisco Rodriguez and Yankees reliever Brian Bruney almost turned physical before the final game of the series on Sunday. The pitchers exchanged violent words before the Yankees 15-0 slaughtering of the Mets and the players had to be separated.
The confrontation started in left field before the game and players from both teams gathered to calm the tension. Bruney said that he approached K-Rod to try and reconcile their differences but Rodriguez didn’t want any part of the apology. It all started when Bruney called Rodriguez out for his over exciting celebrations on the field and claimed that K-Rod's personality brought about a "tired act".
Most of the Mets described the confrontation as a one way conversation and none of the Yankees players really seemed interested in supporting Bruney in the altercation. While Bruney did not back down he said he had no interest in a fight and was just hoping to put the whole situation behind them. Before it could get too hot, Mets Mike Pelfrey and the Yankees Jose Veras broke them up as K-Rod continuously screamed, "If you have something to say to me, say it to my face". Bruney didn’t really say much back and just tried to avoid the situation altogether.
What started it all was when Bruney reacted after the Yankees 9-8 victory on Friday night. Rodriguez prematurely celebrated the victory with a huge fist pump as Alex Rodriguez popped the ball into the air. Luis Castillo made a brutal error and the Yankees came away with the win. After the game Bruney commented that the error could not have happened to a better guy and he was truly grateful that Francisco Rodriguez did not get the save.
After the incident neither player nor manager had much to say and most of the focus was on the 15-0 victory that the Yankees pulled together and the nine earned runs that Johan Santana gave up in the game. However on Saturday when the comments first aired, Rodriguez was not so silent. He insisted that he had no idea who Bruney was and that he could not even pick him out of a lineup if he had to. He needed his own players to point him in the direction of Bruney before he could even recognize him and make his way over to confront him. He insisted that a guy who has such a lack of a reputation should keep his mouth shut and do his own job. He continued to say that of course if it was someone like Mariano Rivera it would be a bigger deal, but all he knows about Bruney is that he is continuously listed on the DL whenever he has been in the major leagues.
For now though it looks like the beef has been put behind everyone and it will be good for the teams to go back to their respective leagues and be separated for a few weeks. While it seems to be a finished issue, we will find out for sure when the two teams battle it out again in a second subway series in a few weeks.
Drill Down:
New York Mets,
Brian Bruney,
Mike Pelfrey,
Jose Veras,
Alex Rodriguez,
Luis Castillo
