Yankees Lack of Class Causes Bench Clear

I've had a few days now to think about this whole Yankee vs. Rays bench clear incident and have come to a few conclusions.

First, Joe Girardi was quoted after the game in which the Rays Elliot Johnson ran over Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli at the plate and breaking Cervelli’s wrist as saying:

"I'm all for playing hard, but spring training is not the time to do it"

Well I guess Joe Girardi doesn't think it's the time to play hard (which to me says a lot about Joe), but for young guys like Cervelli and Johnson it is exactly that time. What other opportunity do these guys have to showcase their hustle and performance at a major league level? These guys are fighting for an opportunity to not only make the pros, but to make a Big League income. Francisco Cervelli blocked the plate for the same reason that Elliot Johnson knocked him on his ass. To show the guys in charge that they are the type of players who play hard all the time. Can you imagine what the talk would have been if Johnson had just slowed up at the plate and allowed himself to be tagged out? Everyone would have said he had no heart and that he was afraid of being physical. What do you think his odds of making the major league roster would have been then? The fact is the play at the plate was a clean play.

This brings me to my second point. The Yankees showed once again why they have continued to fall from grace. They are no longer a class organization. You throw at a guy during spring training in retaliation for a clean play? I expect that from a perennial loser, not a team like the Yankees. You then follow that up with Shelley Duncan trying to drive his spikes into the thighs (or groin) of Iwamura. Duncan explained the slide like this:

"I made a hard slide into Iwamura's glove. When I'm out there playing, I like to play hard. In my head, I wasn't thinking about a message. They see me playing hard every day."

"To me, there's no malicious intent at all. I just felt I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. I play the game one way. I'll never stop playing the game that way."

Well, that's the same way Elliot Johnson was playing when he smashed into Francisco Cervelli and Girardi took offense to it. Girardi has to make up his mind. Either playing hard in spring training is good or bad. If it's not the way he wants to see teams play in the spring then he should be coming out and saying that Duncan's slide was inappropriate. If it is the way he wants to see teams play then he started this whole mess for nothing because he would understand that Johnson was just playing the game hard like Shelley Duncan said of himself.

The Yankees wanted new leadership and they got it in Girardi. So far I don't think even Yankee fans are impressed. The manager sets the tone for the team and so far the tone set by Girardi does not seem to be a good one. Just more whining and complaining which seems to be the new Yankee tradition.

With all the talk of this brawl it now has me thinking. What would you consider the top 5 greatest fights in Red Sox history? Over the next five days I will share my picks. I look forward to your feedback and opinions.