What harm's been done?

First off.... fuck Peter Gammons.

I have always appreciated his commentary and his writing, but if he's going to get on his high horse on television, make a childish, schoolyard remark like "Ugh! Triple-A pitchers... give me a break!" in reference to Kyle Farnsworth, then end it right there without any further substantive remark about the Farnsworth pitch behind Manny Ramirez, then he's chipping away at his own well-earned reputation for impartiality.

Gammons is a Bostonian, or something like it, and we're all certain he danced with glee after the 2004 and 2007 seasons ended. Good for him. But he's paid to comment on major league baseball. he's not paid to allow his love of the Red Sox color his commentary. Gammons apologists will defend his Farnsworth utterance, but the man has an obligation to explain himself a little better than "Ugh!...." -- especially when it comes to a situation involving the Red Sox and the Yankees.

Not his finest hour, but this really isn't about Gammons.

What baffles me is this righteous indignation that people have over the Farnsworth pitch. It was a pitch that never came close to Manny. It wasn't as if Manny had to get out of the way of a pitch targeted for any part of his body. It was a message pitch, and the message was: "Look, you're the other team's top hitter. Your pitchers have no qualms about plunking our batters -- in the middle of the back! Here's a reminder that if we wanted to, we could make this situation ugly, in a hurry. Now get back in the box and hit..... punk."

Where's the crime? Where's the suspendable offense? This wasn't Armando Benitez taking direct aim at Tino Martinez back in May of 1998. And this wasn't Pedro Martinez plunking Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter, in the same inning, and sending both to the hospital, at Yankee Stadium in July of 2003. (And by the way, where was all the negative commentary about Pedro back then? All people have ever said about him was that he was a tough competitor who tried to own the inside corner. Please..... the guy was a great pitcher and at the same time a jerk who got away with stuff that other pitchers never could have, and good for him. I hated him, and still do, but I have no beef with his style.)

Farnsworth's toss was a no-harm, no-foul pitch that didn't even upset Manny. And now you have announcers and fans preaching from the soapboxes about potential career-ending injuries and other such nonsense. Give me an eff-ing break. Major League Baseball can take the paper their suspension was announced on and wipe their asses with it. Farnsworth did the right thing.

The refrain is getting tired, but here it is one more time: For the length of the Joe Torre era, Yankee batters took shit from opposing pitchers, especially Red Sox pitchers, for God knows what reason -- taking the high road; being classier than the other guy; bringing the game into a new era; whatever..... But when Yankee batters had to step into the box, knowing it was open season on them because Yankee pitchers wouldn't retaliate in kind, it had to be frustrating. When the other teams are playing by the unwritten rules of baseball, but your own pitchers refuse to play along, then how secure can you be in the bonds between teammates?

Kyle Farnsworth might be a lot of undesirable things -- shaky reliever; a touch whiny; unreliable in any serious pressure situation -- but at least he's a teammate who has someone's back. I'm gald he didn't hit Manny, because I'm not a sadist; I don't want to see human beings down on the ground in agony. But Farnsworth wasn't trying to ignite a beanball war; if anything, he was trying to end one before it started. If Sox pitchers got the message, then this thing can die a death right now. If they didn't, then so be it.

At least one Yankee pitcher is willing to carry the water for the guys who get drilled. Although they can't do it publicly, the players -- hopefully -- gave Farnsworth a high-five after Thursday's game.