We had a benches-clearing incident Wednesday in St. Louis between the Brewers and Cardinals.
The way Nyjer Morgan tells it, Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter incited the whole thing when he screamed “f@&k you” following a ninth-inning strikeout.
The Brewers center fielder responded in kind, hurling a number of his own choice words out to the mound before removing the chewing tobacco from his lip and throwing it in the direction of Carpenter.
Carpenter had his back turned toward the outfield at that point, but Albert Pujols noticed the tobacco heave and charged toward Morgan from first base.
Pujols was held back, as was Morgan, and both teams eventually returned to their respective dugouts. But this is the 21st century, and so the fracas didn’t end in the physical world. It went ... well ... digital:
The Brewers and Cardinals probably won’t meet again this season, and it’s possible that both Pujols and Morgan will be playing for different clubs in 2012. But the great baseball flick “The Sandlot” taught us all the impact of accusing a member of the opposition of playing ball “like a girl.” This grudge won’t die easily.
The Cardinals won the game 2-0 and have moved to within 6.5 games of the Braves in the National League Wild Card standings. They’ll be hosting Atlanta for a crucial three-game series this weekend.
The Brewers, meanwhile, hold a healthy 8.5 game lead in the National League Central.