Barry Zito decided that hitting Prince Fielder with a fastball in the back yesterday would teach him a lesson. Fielder hit a walk-off homerun against the Giants in the playoffs last season and the team celebrated by falling like bowling pins when Fielder reached home plate. There was no taunting or jestering in the direction of the mound or the Giants dugout. But apparently celebrating a walk-off homerun in the playoffs is just unacceptable to the Giants. This is one of the few opportunities when a professional ball player can enjoy the game. This isn't tee-ball where everyone gets a trophy. Let them enjoy the moment. It was huge for him and his team. Zito did all but cry na-na na-na na-na after drilling Fielder in the back on the first pitch of his first plate appearance. In my opinion, there is a time for pitchers to ‘police’ the sport, but this definitely was not one of them. Apparently, hitting a walk-off homerun in the playoffs is not a big event for the Giants. Fielder handled the situation very well by tossing his bat back toward the dugout and even picking up and tossing the ball back toward Zito. Given the choice of hitting a walk-off homerun in the playoffs and getting drilled the next year in Spring Training or losing the playoff game, I think I’ll take the walk-off every time. The Brewers and Fielder obviously got the best of this deal but at least the Giants feelings aren’t still hurt. My question: Did Fielder even feel it?
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100304&content_id=8676528&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
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