Nick Hundley fined for his role in Tuesday’s brawl

Major League Baseball’s Chief Baseball Officer, Joe Torre, has rendered his verdict on the incident that took place at Dodger Stadium Tuesday night whereupon Yasiel Puig shoved and swatted at Nick Hundley after Nick Hundley persistently told Yasiel Puig to get back in the batter’s box:

Outfielder Yasiel Puig of the Los Angeles Dodgers has received a two-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for fighting and inciting a bench-clearing incident in the bottom of the seventh inning of his Club’s Tuesday night game against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium. Joe Torre, Chief Baseball Officer for Major League Baseball, made the announcement.

In addition, Giants catcher Nick Hundley has received an undisclosed fine for his role in the incident.

Unless appealed, the suspension of Puig is scheduled to begin on Friday, when the Dodgers are to play at Seattle. If Puig elects to appeal, then the discipline issued to him will be held in abeyance until the process is complete.

Here’s a note about the “undisclosed fine”:

Nick Hundley got to mess with Yasiel Puig’s head and get him suspended for the price of an Apple computer.

Seems fair, even though people will have their gripes. Nick Hundley isn’t blameless, Yasiel Puig shoved and threw punches. The Dodgers might’ve used Puig’s ejection and the entire affair to win that game and come roaring out of the gates the following night. Neither happened. Hundley hoped his actions would lead to the team growing closer together and “feed off” the energy of the moment. The Giants laid a wet fart for most of last night.

The Dodgers need Puig as much as or maybe even more than the Giants need Hundley, so this materially affects them more while once again making his behavior an unnecessary distraction as they try to get back to the playoffs. At some point, a reasonable person will have to consider the possibility that maybe Yasiel Puig is ultimately responsible for how he chooses to respond to people who mess with him. And, maybe, this will be the last time this season when the Giants come into a series against the Dodgers pre-gruntled.

All that to say, phew. Thank goodness that’s over. Now, go read Doug’s interview with Gregor Blanco that went up less than an hour ago.