Hairston calls for Goldschmidt to be suspended for slide
Aug 2, 2012, 1:11 AM | Updated: 4:20 am
In the top of the eighth with no outs, Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt slid into second to break up a broken bat single from Justin Upton that could have been a double play.
According to MLB.com, Dodgers second baseman Jerry Hairston didn’t approve of the slide and expressed his frustration after the game.
“He should be suspended. It’s totally unacceptable,” the 15-year veteran Hairston said about Goldschmidt. “He jumped over the bag to get to me. He was seven feet past the bag. It was terrible.”
Hairston remained in the game for the rest of the eighth inning but left with a bruised right shin before the ninth.
“The guy at first [Upton] should have been out for that. He [Goldschmidt] actually started the slide after the bag. He got me good. You know, play the game right. Major League Baseball says it watches every game. If they watched this game, he gets suspended. He’s a big part of their team, but he hasn’t been around the game long enough. He’s got to know better than that. He could have broken my leg.”
Some Dodgers players believe the slide may have been motivated by a pitch Goldschmidt took in the shoulder on Javvy Guerra’s first pitch of the game after he replaced Stephen Fife in the fifth. Goldschmidt, however, denied any harmful intentions and said that he didn’t even think anything of the incident when it happened.
“I didn’t realize he was upset until later,” Goldschmidt said. “My thinking is Justin hit that ground ball and they could possibly turn a double play, [so] go in there and break it up. Obviously you’re not trying to hurt anyone, but you’re in there trying to make it so he can’t get the throw off. Hopefully he’s all right.”
Bad blood has been shed between these two teams for years, but for now Goldschmidt and the Diamondbacks leave LA with the momentum as they wait to find out whether or not the league will act on Hairston’s request.
Golschmidt went 8-for-12 with two homers and five RBI in the series, while the Diamondbacks outscored the Dodgers 19-4 in the series sweep.
