Earlier this week, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig and San Francisco Giants catcher Nick Hundley exchanged pleasantries and shove attempts, sparking a benches-clearing load of nothing.
Both were punished by Major League Baseball on Thursday, but only one -- Puig -- was handed a two-game suspension. Hundley, conversely, was hit with an undisclosed fine. Here's the press release from the league office:
Outfielder Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers has received a two-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for fighting and inciting a bench-clearing incident in the bottom of the seventh inning of his Club's Tuesday night game against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium. Joe Torre, Chief Baseball Officer for Major League Baseball, made the announcement.
In addition, Giants catcher Nick Hundley has received an undisclosed fine for his role in the incident.
Unless appealed, the suspension of Puig is scheduled to begin on Friday, when the Dodgers are to play at Seattle. If Puig elects to appeal, then the discipline issued to him will be held in abeyance until the process is complete.
At first glance, it seems odd that Puig would get the stiffer penalty when it was Hundley who began the spat. Our guess is that the league felt Puig deserved a greater punishment for making contact first -- and for going out of his way to land a slap to Hundley's mask.
Is that fair? Maybe not. But there's not much we (or most anyone else) can do about it other than advise players to find healthier solutions to their conflicts.
