A's owner calls Royals explanation of head-pointing gesture 'despicable'
Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff didn’t take kindly to how the Kansas City Royals played his team during last weekend's series, calling their actions and explanation of what happened “despicable.”
It started in last Friday night's game, when Athletics third baseman Brett Lawrie took out Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar with a hard slide in an attempt to break up a double play.
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Lawrie was then hit with with a fastball by Royals starter Yordano Ventura during Saturday’s game, which led to Ventura’s ejection and both benches being cleared.
Although warnings were issued, the next day, Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain was hit on the foot by A's pitcher Scott Kazmir.
Later in the game, Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera threw a 100-mph fastball behind Lawrie in the eighth inning, again clearing the benches. Five Royals were tossed during the game, including manager Ned Yost, pitching coach Dave Eiland and Herrera.
Herrera, on his way to the dugout after being ejected, pointed at his head, which the A’s players took as a sign to mean that Herrera would aim at Lawrie’s head the next time they faced each other. The next time the teams play is June 26 in Oakland.
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Yost tried to explain Herrera’s actions when speaking to reporters on Monday.
“I can see what he was saying. We kind of talk about it all the time,” he said. “'You better think about it. Because we’ve got guys that throw 100. You want to mess around?’ That’s all he was doing.”
“Is that a threat? That’s despicable," Wolff told the San Francisco Chronicle. "And you can quote me on that."
MLB expected to hand out punishments because of the incidents on Tuesday.
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