From the "now you see why we traded him for nothing" file, we give you the latest from Vicente Padilla. This time, instead of an arrest for suspicion of DUI, Padilla decided that throwing fastballs at the Los Angeles Angels was a smart thing to do.
Here's what happened according to ESPN's Buster Olney:
On Tuesday night, Vicente Padilla stunk, and rather than just take some responsibility and do his job and try to make better pitches, Padilla started firing fastballs at the hitters. Then last night, with the Angels getting blown out, they felt the need to answer back, to retaliate, and that's how Kennedy wound up going after Feldman with two outs in the ninth inning.
That's what happened with Tino. In 1995, when he was with Seattle, and in 1998, when he was with the Yankees, Benitez made bad pitches, he got hit around and so he fired fastballs at Tino. To me, there's nothing more gutless in the sport.
You're mad because you're giving up runs? Well then, make better pitches. Don't take it out on the next hitter.
As the benches cleared in both instances when Tino got hit -- during play, while the players were still grabbing and pushing -- some of Benitez's Orioles teammates were apologizing to their opponents for the actions of the pitcher. And I suspect that this took place last night, in some form or fashion. The Rangers are a good team that plays hard, and they probably were almost as angry at Padilla as the Angels were. (And remember, the White Sox have had their issues with Padilla, too.)
Padilla will likely be suspended, but until he is manager Buck Showalter gave him an earful, while Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News ripped into the former Phillie.
Padilla is slated to be a free agent at the end of this season, and it's my guess that he won't be pitching for the Rangers in 2007.
On the subject of Padilla, I'll never forget the time last September when a uniformed member of the Phillies not-so subtly passed on information that it was highly unlikely that Padilla would return for 2006. The team had just grown tired of him.
I'll also never forget when he came four outs away from tossing a no-hitter against the Diamondbacks or sitting in the dugout during a simulated game at the Vet a few days after Sept. 11 when hitters refused to go to the plate to face Padilla. His stuff was just too nasty.
I'll also remember how Scott Rolen took a weird shine to the moody Nicaraguan. Rolen had taken to playfully teasing "Vinnie" on the field and in the clubhouse as a way of making the pitcher feel involved or part of the team... you know, one of the guys. The goofy part was that Rolen's jibes were often lost in translation since Padilla never took much of an interest in speaking English in public or communicating to teammates. Rolen said: "He has no idea what I'm saying and I have no idea what the hell he's saying. That's the beauty of it."
Padilla was also the last National League pitcher in the 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee that ended in a tie.