Woah boy, here we go with the Bryce Harper “Make Baseball Fun Again” hat already winning the week. It’s only Wednesday and we have new Mariners manager Scott Servais telling Rangers manager Jeff Banister to “Go F yourself.”
Now you have my attention, baseball. Get it on! This kind of action will definitely suck me in to watch April baseball. These are two former MLB catchers who just might fight today when the two teams play again at 2:05 EST on MLBN. From what I can see on Twitter, this all got going with bean balls.
So good. Scott Servais telling Jeff Bannister “go f— yourself!” pic.twitter.com/nOih5806ic
— Larry Brown (@LBSports) April 6, 2016
The other good news for Servais is that he got his first MLB managerial victory (10-2).
Update: It seems Scott Servais isn’t a rookie when it comes to wars with other teams. Let’s go back to 1996 when the Cubs and Mets were involved in a 16-minute brawl. From the Chicago Tribune archives:
Harnisch, who has a reputation for being emotional, was steamed about giving up a two-run homer to Sammy Sosa in the first inning, enough so that he conducted a karate-kicking festival on the dugout water cooler. And when Foster’s pitch whizzed toward Hundley, Harnisch decided to play enforcer.
First pitch, second inning, Foster at the plate: kerplunk.
Foster didn’t say a word, but in the third inning, catcher Scott Servais ran past Harnisch after a groundout and said, “Why do you gotta hit Kevin? We’re not throwing at Todd.”
No answer.
By the bottom of the fifth, Foster (two innings, five hits, five earned runs, four walks) was long gone and the Mets led 6-3. Rookie reliever Terry Adams wasted little time retaliating. With two outs and none on, he sent a fastball behind the knees of Harnisch.
As the pitch skidded against the backstop, Harnisch moved toward Adams, Servais moved toward Harnisch, plate umpire Greg Bonin moved between the two of them. And then . . .
“And then (Harnisch) sucker-punched Scotty, and off we go,” Grace said.
…
Servais suffered a scratched nose and a red mark on his jaw. Harnisch had a few knuckle marks of his own. Cubs third base coach Tony Muser was examined later for a possible broken toe. Brogna needed an ice pack on his right wrist.
Media trying to get Servais and Banister to fight:
I am one hundred percent confident that Jeff Banister would end Scott Servais.
— Greg Tepper (@Tepper) April 6, 2016
