by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ANAHEIM–After their three game trip in Kansas City which saw benches empty in each of the three games the A’s are hoping to have four nice civilized games in Anaheim in a series that starts Monday night. In a hard slide that started off the series in Kansas City, A’s third baseman Brett Lawrie slide hard enough to injure the Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar that took him out for most of the series.

Lawire is in his first year with the A’s and he wants to prove something to his new teammates in Oakland and Lawrie has always been a hard nosed player. He was that way when he was in Toronto he dove into the seats at third base for foul balls that’s the style of baseball he plays. That slide was not intentional. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.

However you never slide with your spikes up because you could hurt the second baseman or in this case the shortstop Escobar who was trying to turn the double play and he got hurt pretty bad. That’s why the Royals are taking this like it was done intentionally. I would like to give Lawrie the benefit of the doubt that this was not intentional.

Lawrie was just playing hard and this was baseball it’s what happens. That’s what happens like when Scott Cousins from the Miami Marlins slide into Giants catcher Buster Posey and broke Posey’s leg a few years back. This is what’s going to happen and people say that baseball is not a contact sport. Baloney you play 162 regular season games. These injuries happen and you want to give Lawrie the benefit of the doubt however the Royals didn’t see it that way.

The one thing led to the next, to the next, to the next, and then you have relievers aim at hitters heads it’s very ugly I hope it doesn’t continue. Some people like Royals manager Ned Yost say it was intentional, who knows? Only the players on the field know if it was intentional or not. The media can speculate up in the press box or the broadcast booth.

When this happens to each team you know it’s retaliation when somebody hits a hitter and the pitcher hits the other guy it crates this catch 22 and you go around and you keep hitting guys this is the wrong thing to do. The Royals have a very good bullpen the best in baseball and that’s the reason why they went to the World Series. The Royals will be making a trip to Oakland on June 26th get ready there could be more retaliation by both teams.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and does News and Commentary each week and listen to his podcast below at http://www.sportsradioservice.com