Benches Cleared In Dodgers-Rangers After Matt Kemp Trucked The Catcher

By Dan Crawford


You never see this anymore. A catcher getting trucked during a play at the plate is a rare sight in this day and age. It’s sad, really. Ever since Buster Posey broke his leg that one time and everybody freaked out and changed all of the rules, these catchers have zero reason to fear these guys barreling down the third base line for a play at home. Remember, 40-something years ago we had Pete Rose doing this in an ALL-STAR game. Back when men were men. You would run over the catcher and then get a beer together after the game. Now we’re lucky if we get one good one per season and it always ends with the benches clearing.
Thank God Matt Kemp kept it old school last night and disregarded this pussification of baseball. Only one option presented itself when he saw Robinson Chirinos blocking that plate.


Now, this is the baseball I remember loving. When it turns into something resembling football for a split second.
We won’t talk about the “fight” that occurred after this. It’s just one of the many classic hold-me-back sessions you get every baseball season. In real time it looked a lot worse than it actually was. I thought Chirinos landed a nice right on Kemp after the initial shove, but when you slow it down it just comes out to this:


Basically just stuck his glove in Kemp’s mouth.
As for the rest of the two teams, no punches were thrown, of course, and by the time the bullpen got in the mix, everything had died down. Just your average bench clearing.


 

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