Varitek/A-Rod: 4 games apiece. Sturtze: 3 games Nixon/Kapler: 3 games Fined: Schilling, Ortiz, Lofton.
Where to begin? Some people seem to have a problem with A-Rod and Tek getting the same sentence; I can see the argument, but whether Varitek threw the first punch or not, A-Rod started that. Was Tek supposed to wait until he was attacked? He was very loudly and angrily being threatened.
Three games for Sturtze amounts to nothing, since he's still (AFAIK) in the Yankee rotation. Kapler gets three for defending himself from a chokehold (applied from behind, when he wasn't looking) and Sturtze gets off essentially scot-free. Ridiculous.
Nixon, however, did look to be piling on; Sturtze was on the ground at that point. His being suspended seems fair.
Ortiz and Lofton, however... I have no idea what they're being fined for. Ortiz was pretty clearly trying to break the brawl up, and the phantom punch that Tim McCarver claims to have seen looks to me like a 6'4" guy losing his balance. and flailing an arm, trying to pry himself loose from a coach. Lofton I can't even freakin' see. What is his supposed crime?
Nixon's sentence doesn't amount to anything, because he was gone for the year anyway. Varitek's doesn't hurt as much as it usually would, because Mirabelli has been hitting pretty well this year. The one that hurts the most, and I can't believe I'm saying this, is Kapler's. Without him the Sox are down to either McCarty or Millar in right. Hopefully this will show Theo the non-existant outfield depth we have and force him to go get Larry Walker.
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