Orioles' third baseman Manny Machado will officially serve his five-game suspension for throwing his bat toward third base in a June game against the Athletics. It took Major League Baseball roughly three weeks to determine whether or not Machado's appeal would result in a lessened punishment, but in the end, they stuck to the original suspension.
Manny Machado’s suspension for throwing bat upheld
Machado’s appeal did not convince MLB, and he’ll serve his five games.
Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
Machado was brushed back by A's pitcher Fernando Abad, and retaliated by letting go of his bat mid-swing, sending it flying toward third base. Whether Machado meant to release it so it would go to third, or let go slightly too late for it to head toward Abad is unknown, but it seemed clear that it was intentional either way. MLB obviously agreed, given the suspension.
The whole thing actually started with a tag applied to Machado by A's third baseman Josh Donaldson, which Machado took exception to. Then the A's took exception to Machado whacking their catcher, Derek Norris, in the head with his backswing, and for doing so without apologizing. It was a weird weekend.
Now, with Machado suspended and unable to get out of it, we can put this all behind us and hopefully never have to cite it as precedent later on.
See More:
