Brett Gardner’s slide was hard and clean. While it was unfortunate that Tigers’ second baseman Carlos Guillen injured his knee on the play, and it requires a stint on the disabled list, any retribution by the Tigers’ Wednesday night was misguided.
Jeremy Bonderman was warned by home plate umpire Eric Cooper after hitting Gardner in the first inning Wednesday. The presumption is he threw at him intentionally because of the play Monday.
Guillen did complete the double play, saving an improbable victory for the Tigers Monday. It was a great play on his part. If anybody ever questions his desire, all he has to do is pull out a clip of that play.
But if Gardner hadn’t made that slide and not attempted to break up the DP in such an aggressive manner, he would been held accountable by his manager and teammates for lack of effort. Taking out a player in that circumstance is part of the game - like collisions at home plate between base runners and catchers.
Just as misguided, however, was Yankees’ pitcher Chad Gaudin drilling Tigers’ first baseman Miguel Cabrera in the back with a pitch late in the game. Cabrera hit two home runs earlier.
How could Cooper have not warned Gaudin? I don’t blame Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland for being livid.
There was no consistency there - and typical of the shoddy umpiring in the major leagues this season.