Who's the bigger baby Dallas Braden or A-rod

[nolemmings]

Former Mets pitcher and current analyst Ron Darling said "absolutely hitters are not supposed to run over the mound, you stay off it," and that the mound is "the pitcher's place."

But Darling seemed to indicate the fraternization of the game now made Braden's outburst somewhat inconsistent.

"The game's changed," Darling said. "These guys are hugging and kissing each other before the game, they share the same agents, everyone's so happy. It's the country club fraternity of baseball now. They've decided to make this a genteel game. For A-Rod not to know that that's inappropriate, though ... everyone knows that. It's just that all these lines have been blurred. It's a country club game."

Braden said it was part of how he was brought up in the game.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, as old school as managers come, told AOLFanhouse that "a lot of guys" in the game don't know about the stay-off-the-mound code and was in Braden's corner.

"He's been taught right," La Russa said, according to Fanhouse.

Former catcher and FOX analyst Tim McCarver recalled Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, a legendary intimidator, and his viewpoint on hitters coming near the mound, which Gibson called his "office."

"You never come into my office unless you're invited," McCarver said. "And you'll never be invited."

Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/04/25...#ixzz0m5MZ9HwN

I suspect others will chime in as well.

[nolemmings]

Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton, now an Atlanta Braves announcer, took Braden's side Friday.

"No, you don't do it. It's like stealing a base when you're ahead by nine runs in the eighth inning," Sutton said in New York. "It's just common sense and common courtesy. If Bob Gibson or Don Drysdale had been on the mound, it would've been over in 15 seconds."

Braves right-hander Tim Hudson (FSY) said it's not an unwritten rule, just something you know not to do.

"It'd be like going in the other team's dugout," he said. "You have to respect that it's the pitcher's place."

from http://content.usatoday.net/dist/cus...38311656.story

[nolemmings]

[QUOTE]"A-Rod is full of [bleep], that he never heard of that," Wells told The Post from San Diego yesterday. "He has been around the game long enough to know that."
...
Wells watched Braden snap at Rodriguez, was aware what the lefty said after the game and agreed with Braden.

"I hated it when runners did that. I yelled at plenty of them," Wells said. "It's one thing to cross in the front of the mound before it goes up, but on top of it, that's wrong. The cleats [mess] up the mound. Pitchers don't go in front of fielders and put their spikes in the dirt.

"I totally agree [with Braden] 'Get off my mound.' I would have done the same thing with A-Rod, or anybody else. [Bleep] it."
...
Wells said he would even call out Jeter, but explained there is a difference between what somebody like Jeter or Bernie Williams would hear than what would pierce Rodriguez's ears.

"I would yell at Jeter. There are certain guys you would mother [bleep] and certain guys you would give a little more courtesy to, guys like Jeter and Bernie. A-Rod is not a well-liked guy," Wells said.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yanke...#ixzz0m5V1wvR7

[D. Bergin]

I'm a Yankee fan but I've got to side with Braden on this..........especially with what A-Rod said about Braden afterwards.

A-Rod doesn't get to disrespect him just because he's not a superstar.

Roger Clemens might have stabbed him with a broken bat.

[yanksfan09]

I think a lot of people are just voting against ARod because they don't like him.
Who's ever even heard of this so=called unwritten rule before this story came up?

I heard John Smoltz in a radio interview the other day and he said he had never heard of that.

Dallas Braden needs to calm down, look in the mirror and realize he's Dallas Braden!

Also, I think everyone would have a different opinion if it had been someone like Jeter or Cal Ripken going over the mound.

[ibuysportsephemera]

Jim Bowden, Rob Dibble and a couple of guys on the MLB radio network (can't remember who..but big names) said A-Rod was absolutely wrong.

[JasonL]

I respectfully disagree.
It is bad etiquette, so A-Rod was wrong,....but it's wrong no matter the character or talent involved in the exchange