Mike Piazza vs. Roger Cleme... er, Guillermo Mota

TotalEnd98 · 03-12-2003, 10:39 PM

What the hell was Mota doing?

For those who missed it: in apparent continuation from spring training last year, Dodger Guillermo Mota pitches at Mike Piazza's head, and Piazza absolutely loses it, charging the mound. Mota, in one of the most cowardly acts in the history of baseball, winds up, throws his glove at Piazza's face, and then hides behind his onrushing teammates. Jeromy Burnitz, proving he's good for something after all, and Joe McEwing charge right through the clustered Dodgers and go after Mota, who runs his ass off until the Dodgers can catch up to them, then slows down and apparently taunts the Mets while running backwards, reaches the dugout, goes into the clubhouse and is gone.

The look on Piazza's face was goddamn scary, I have to say. He would have seriously hurt Mota had he gotten his hands on him. You thought he was bad after the Clemens encounters? Catch a replay of this.

TotalEnd98 · 03-12-2003, 10:51 PM

And the Dodgers have gotten Mota the hell away from the park.

I hate the Mets with a passion, but from what I saw, Mota deserves the harshest suspension MLB can hand out.

TotalEnd98 · 03-12-2003, 11:01 PM

Piazza has left the park... via the Dodger clubhouse. Still with murderous look on his face.

The Oz · 03-12-2003, 11:02 PM

It's spring training! No one is throwing at you!

But Mota's still a pussy for what he did after the pitch.

TotalEnd98 · 03-12-2003, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Oz
It's spring training! No one is throwing at you!

Oh, yes, he was throwing at him, and he did so twice. First pitch was way inside, about stomach-level, and Piazza just glared. Second one hit him around the shoulder, and he was off.

sporr · 03-13-2003, 05:42 AM

Damn, sounds like I'm going to have to start watching Sports Center again.

Rowleyball · 03-13-2003, 01:22 PM

I don't think Mota was unjustified in hitting Piazza, after he tried to strangle him after a game last spring training, but running away was pretty cowardly. And Piazza searching through the Dodger clubhouse, that's a little much for me. Leave what's on the field on the field.

It'll be interesting as the Dodgers face the Mets a few more times this spring, including a game in Mexico City.

A.J. Holz · 03-13-2003, 01:41 PM

Looks like this one might make it on to the undercard of Vizquel-Mesa.

LivnLegend · 03-13-2003, 02:15 PM

Wow, TotalEnd, your coverage of this news story is about as one-sided as I could imagine. "most cowardly acts in the history of baseball"?? Too much!!

Clearly you never saw Marichal swing a bat over the top of Roseboro's head.

First of all, you completely ignored the cowardly Piazza's response to a pitch from Mota that did not even hit him last year in spring training. Piazza waited until Mota was walking off the field after an inning and grabbed Mota by the shirt collar and read him the riot act.
Second of all, there is no evidence Mota was throwing "at Mike Piazza's head" as you indicated. The pitch hit Piazza in the back of the shoulder and the first pitch was closer to the waistline. Nice use of dramatic license there!
Next, not sure why you would champion the cause of Jeromy Burnitz who ran around the field looking like a complete idiot chasing Mota into the dugout. Most players understand their roll in a bench clearing situation like this one is to help break things up, point fingers, and make sure their side does not get taken advantage of. Burnitz apparently decided he was going to take the fight into his hands since Piazza was being wrapped up by Brian Jordan. Real class on Burnitz's part.

Piazza took this waayy too serious. Where was this grit and determination when Clemens threw a bat at him? I guess it's different when the pitcher is closer to Mota's 5'10" 180 pounds rather than Clemens' 6'4" 235.

Delgadodawg · 03-13-2003, 03:19 PM

That was hilarious!!!---he throws his glove and runs away! It would have been great if Piazza had managed to get his hands on the little coward.

Quote:

I guess it's different when the pitcher is closer to Mota's 5'10" 180 pounds rather than Clemens' 6'4" 235.

I seriously doubt Piazza is afraid of Clemens. I would look at the situation, I am pretty sure Piazza didn't want to get tossed from a World Series game.

Hammer755 · 03-13-2003, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LivnLegend
Wow, TotalEnd, your coverage of this news story is about as one-sided as I could imagine. "most cowardly acts in the history of baseball"?? Too much!! Clearly you never saw Marichal swing a bat over the top of Roseboro's head.

Don't worry Scott, your analysis just about balanced out the bias.

Apparently you missed the part where Mota chucked his glove at Piazza and sprinted in the opposite direction. Not to mention Mota backpedalling at full speed toward the exit, which in itself is not terrible, but the fact he was talking trash to the guys chasing him the whole way is pretty sorry.

Jason Moyer · 03-13-2003, 05:50 PM

Bah, the real pussies are the guys wearing body armor and standing right on top of the plate then trying to intimidate pitchers whenever they throw inside. Screw that. If you're so tough, take off the damn body armor and take a HBP like a man.

Jason

TotalEnd98 · 03-13-2003, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LivnLegend
"most cowardly acts in the history of baseball"?? Too much!! Clearly you never saw Marichal swing a bat over the top of Roseboro's head.

Unfortunately, I haven't. Also, I qualified it with "one of the most cowardly acts." I'm sure there have been worse.

Quote:

First of all, you completely ignored the cowardly Piazza's response to a pitch from Mota that did not even hit him last year in spring training. Piazza waited until Mota was walking off the field after an inning and grabbed Mota by the shirt collar and read him the riot act.

"In apparent continuation from spring training last year" is ignoring it? Granted, I didn't give it the same amount of space as what happened last night, but... it didn't happen last night.

Quote:

Second of all, there is no evidence Mota was throwing "at Mike Piazza's head" as you indicated. The pitch hit Piazza in the back of the shoulder and the first pitch was closer to the waistline. Nice use of dramatic license there!

Look at Piazza in batting stance. Then look at the pitch hitting him. Indeed, it did hit him in the shoulder, which was right where his head is in normal batting stance. He reared back to get his head the hell out of the way.

Quote:

Next, not sure why you would champion the cause of Jeromy Burnitz who ran around the field looking like a complete idiot chasing Mota into the dugout.

Tongue-in-cheek, my friend, tongue-in-cheek.

I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to knock a Met.

I'll grant you that my rendition of the events was not as impartial as it could be. But I'm not a reporter. Give me a nice salary and a spot as a reporter for ESPN Magazine or something, and I'll be happy to be as impartial as you like.

SoxWin · 03-13-2003, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jason Moyer
Bah, the real pussies are the guys wearing body armor and standing right on top of the plate then trying to intimidate pitchers whenever they throw inside. Screw that. If you're so tough, take off the damn body armor and take a HBP like a man.

Jason

Paging Mr Barry Bonds and Mo Vaughn

Rich

Urth · 03-13-2003, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jason Moyer
Bah, the real pussies are the guys wearing body armor and standing right on top of the plate then trying to intimidate pitchers whenever they throw inside. Screw that. If you're so tough, take off the damn body armor and take a HBP like a man.

Jason

Brady Anderson? A pussy? No way. Um...Never mind.

LivnLegend · 03-13-2003, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TotalEnd98

I'll grant you that my rendition of the events was not as impartial as it could be. But I'm not a reporter. Give me a nice salary and a spot as a reporter for ESPN Magazine or something, and I'll be happy to be as impartial as you like.

ha!
OK, I'll give you that but until I got to your last paragraph in the initial post I could have sworn you were a Mets fan! The horror!

LivnLegend · 03-13-2003, 07:16 PM

Piazza definitely has a flair for the dramatic. It's Oscar season, let's give that guy an award. Clearly he went to the Vlade Divac school over overacting.
The way Piazza looked with his cheeks flushed, eyeballs bulging, and neck veins popping, I could only imagine he was auditioning for his next phone company TV ad. Maybe one in which he strangles ALF or beats the living crap out of Terry Bradshaw.

Rasmuth · 03-14-2003, 12:00 PM

Lets face it...some people will say negative things about Piazza because he's Mike Piazza...

It seems in recent years he has become a frequent target of pitchers...and he's obviously getting a little sensitive to that fact.

I'm one of the biggest proponents of the plate being property of the pitcher and I love pitchers who are willing to throw inside and use the brush-back...but when a pitcher is headhunting...I also feel they should be prepared for the consequences. I have no problem with Piazza's reaction the other night. I believe if many of us were in his shoes...we'd have done the same.

He's a class ballplayer who's raised the bar for his position...every catcher who can hit in the future will be compared to him. He does have a flair for the dramatic...like hitting a 3 run opposite field homer to win a game! He is an extremely entertaining ballplayer to watch on a regular basis.

I'm not sure why so many people are negative towards the guy...probably because he appears to really be a nice guy...who is a great ballplayer. Playing in New York in a problem too...just because so many people are anti-New York...it's the same problem Soriano is starting to run into. He's developing into a terrific player...maybe redefining his position but he's in New York so many people dislike him just for that.

marioh · 03-14-2003, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LivnLegend

Piazza took this waayy too serious. Where was this grit and determination when Clemens threw a bat at him? I guess it's different when the pitcher is closer to Mota's 5'10" 180 pounds rather than Clemens' 6'4" 235.

Ummm...Mota isn't 5'10", 180 lbs. Not even close.
Classic disinformation from a Dodgers fan ?

http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/la/tea...layerid=150407

jumanjifan01 · 03-15-2003, 03:43 PM

No way Mota is 205.

I wanted to see Brian Jordan run in from left and flatten Piazza. I'll take him over any Met in a fight.

03-12-2003, 10:39 PM	#1
TotalEnd98 All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: New York Posts: 1,687	Mike Piazza vs. Roger Cleme... er, Guillermo Mota What the hell was Mota doing? For those who missed it: in apparent continuation from spring training last year, Dodger Guillermo Mota pitches at Mike Piazza's head, and Piazza absolutely loses it, charging the mound. Mota, in one of the most cowardly acts in the history of baseball, winds up, throws his glove at Piazza's face, and then hides behind his onrushing teammates. Jeromy Burnitz, proving he's good for something after all, and Joe McEwing charge right through the clustered Dodgers and go after Mota, who runs his ass off until the Dodgers can catch up to them, then slows down and apparently taunts the Mets while running backwards, reaches the dugout, goes into the clubhouse and is gone. The look on Piazza's face was goddamn scary, I have to say. He would have seriously hurt Mota had he gotten his hands on him. You thought he was bad after the Clemens encounters? Catch a replay of this.

03-13-2003, 01:41 PM	#8
A.J. Holz All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 650	Looks like this one might make it on to the undercard of Vizquel-Mesa. __________________ NABA - Tijuana Toros / Commish ORB - Oakland Athletics (former owner) MBBA - Seattle Storm JOBL - Grand Forks Varmints (former owner) FIBB - Chicago Fire TMBU - Tulsa Tomcats (former owner) ACL - Oakland A's (former owner) ACB - Rockville Superbas

03-13-2003, 02:15 PM	#9
LivnLegend Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: 100% pure adrenaline! Posts: 5,624	Wow, TotalEnd, your coverage of this news story is about as one-sided as I could imagine. "most cowardly acts in the history of baseball"?? Too much!! Clearly you never saw Marichal swing a bat over the top of Roseboro's head. First of all, you completely ignored the cowardly Piazza's response to a pitch from Mota that did not even hit him last year in spring training. Piazza waited until Mota was walking off the field after an inning and grabbed Mota by the shirt collar and read him the riot act. Second of all, there is no evidence Mota was throwing "at Mike Piazza's head" as you indicated. The pitch hit Piazza in the back of the shoulder and the first pitch was closer to the waistline. Nice use of dramatic license there! Next, not sure why you would champion the cause of Jeromy Burnitz who ran around the field looking like a complete idiot chasing Mota into the dugout. Most players understand their roll in a bench clearing situation like this one is to help break things up, point fingers, and make sure their side does not get taken advantage of. Burnitz apparently decided he was going to take the fight into his hands since Piazza was being wrapped up by Brian Jordan. Real class on Burnitz's part. Piazza took this waayy too serious. Where was this grit and determination when Clemens threw a bat at him? I guess it's different when the pitcher is closer to Mota's 5'10" 180 pounds rather than Clemens' 6'4" 235. __________________ Excess ain't rebellion. You're drinking what they're selling.

03-13-2003, 05:50 PM	#12
Jason Moyer Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 5,088	Bah, the real pussies are the guys wearing body armor and standing right on top of the plate then trying to intimidate pitchers whenever they throw inside. Screw that. If you're so tough, take off the damn body armor and take a HBP like a man. Jason __________________ "I pretty much popped everything cold turkey. We were doing steroids they wouldn't give to horses." -- Tom House "I was very fortunate to have a pitching coach by the name of Tom House...Tom, I really miss those days that we spent in the weight room and out on the field working together." -- Nolan Ryan's HoF Induction Speech

03-13-2003, 07:16 PM	#17
LivnLegend Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: 100% pure adrenaline! Posts: 5,624	Piazza definitely has a flair for the dramatic. It's Oscar season, let's give that guy an award. Clearly he went to the Vlade Divac school over overacting. The way Piazza looked with his cheeks flushed, eyeballs bulging, and neck veins popping, I could only imagine he was auditioning for his next phone company TV ad. Maybe one in which he strangles ALF or beats the living crap out of Terry Bradshaw. __________________ Excess ain't rebellion. You're drinking what they're selling.

03-12-2003, 10:51 PM	#2
TotalEnd98 All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: New York Posts: 1,687	And the Dodgers have gotten Mota the hell away from the park. I hate the Mets with a passion, but from what I saw, Mota deserves the harshest suspension MLB can hand out.

03-12-2003, 11:01 PM	#3
TotalEnd98 All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: New York Posts: 1,687	Piazza has left the park... via the Dodger clubhouse. Still with murderous look on his face.

03-12-2003, 11:02 PM	#4
The Oz Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: St. Louis, Mo Posts: 71	It's spring training! No one is throwing at you! But Mota's still a pussy for what he did after the pitch.

03-13-2003, 05:42 AM	#6
sporr Global Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Muscatine, IA Posts: 8,277	Damn, sounds like I'm going to have to start watching Sports Center again.

03-13-2003, 01:22 PM	#7
Rowleyball Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Winter Park, FL Posts: 265	I don't think Mota was unjustified in hitting Piazza, after he tried to strangle him after a game last spring training, but running away was pretty cowardly. And Piazza searching through the Dodger clubhouse, that's a little much for me. Leave what's on the field on the field. It'll be interesting as the Dodgers face the Mets a few more times this spring, including a game in Mexico City.

03-14-2003, 12:00 PM	#18
Rasmuth All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Upstate Western NY Posts: 1,760	Lets face it...some people will say negative things about Piazza because he's Mike Piazza... It seems in recent years he has become a frequent target of pitchers...and he's obviously getting a little sensitive to that fact. I'm one of the biggest proponents of the plate being property of the pitcher and I love pitchers who are willing to throw inside and use the brush-back...but when a pitcher is headhunting...I also feel they should be prepared for the consequences. I have no problem with Piazza's reaction the other night. I believe if many of us were in his shoes...we'd have done the same. He's a class ballplayer who's raised the bar for his position...every catcher who can hit in the future will be compared to him. He does have a flair for the dramatic...like hitting a 3 run opposite field homer to win a game! He is an extremely entertaining ballplayer to watch on a regular basis. I'm not sure why so many people are negative towards the guy...probably because he appears to really be a nice guy...who is a great ballplayer. Playing in New York in a problem too...just because so many people are anti-New York...it's the same problem Soriano is starting to run into. He's developing into a terrific player...maybe redefining his position but he's in New York so many people dislike him just for that. __________________ http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...?bandID=250426

03-15-2003, 03:43 PM	#20
jumanjifan01 Bat Boy Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 5	No way Mota is 205. I wanted to see Brian Jordan run in from left and flatten Piazza. I'll take him over any Met in a fight.