Tuesday night's melee at Yankee Stadium has resulted in a couple of jabs into the bank accounts of Jorge Posada and Jesse Carlson.
The Yankees catcher and the Blue Jays pitcher were each suspended for three games for "aggressive and inappropriate actions" by baseball vice president Bob Watson
and started serving the penalties immediately, one day after the fight.
Carlson has been fined $3,000 according to manager Cito Gaston, while Posada has been fined $2,500 for their actions in the eighth inning of Toronto's 10-3 win in New York on Tuesday.
New York general manager Brian Cashman told The Associated Press on Wednesday
that Posada would not appeal his penalty.
Toronto's Edwin Encarnacion and All-Star
second baseman Aaron Hill were hit by pitches before Carlson
threw behind Posada in the eighth. Posada glared out at the mound and appeared
to say, "You don't want to do that."
Carlson motioned toward Posada as the benches and
bullpens emptied, though the teams never got close to each other and order was
quickly restored. Johnny Damon and manager Joe Girardi
aggressively pulled teammates away, aware any suspensions could be
costly to the Yankees as they close in on a playoff berth.
Moments later, a nasty rumble broke out.
After scoring on Brett Gardner's double,
Posada brushed Carlson, who was on his way to back up the plate. Home plate
umpire Jim Joyce promptly ejected Posada as Carlson shouted
curses at the star catcher.
Posada spun around, sidestepped Joyce and came back at
Carlson, who took a high swing with a punch that missed. The two wrestled to the
ground as the benches and bullpens emptied and other scuffles broke out between
home plate and the New York dugout.
Carlson, also ejected, was left with a large red bump on
the left side of his forehead.
Blue Jays catcher Rod Barajas was slapped with a $1,000 fine while Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long and pitcher Edwar Ramirez also were fined.
