Mariners outfielder Dee Gordon and shortstop Jean Segura fought in the locker room before Tuesday’s game, according to reports, as a half-dozen teammates players tried to pull them apart. It started, as locker room fights are wont to do, with one of the fighters politely asking media members to stand outside the clubhouse doors for a minute. So how do we know the details? Well, the doors had windows. And then brawl crashed through the doors. This is not the September the Mariners were hoping for.
Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times has the blow-by-blow:
As the media stood near the doors of the Mariners’ clubhouse in Safeco Field, waiting for a 3:20 p.m. media availability with manager Scott Servais, Gordon approached the group and said quietly, “Could you guys clear out of the clubhouse for just a few minutes, please?”
After asking the media to leave, Gordon basically remained in the same spot. But then just a few minutes later, there was the sound of yelling, bodies moving and commotion. The once-closed doors to the clubhouse crashed open, showing an altercation between two players and about six players, including Cameron Maybin, Mike Zunino and Nick Vincent trying to break it up. Robinson Cano and others could be seen coming over to help defuse the situation. The actual participants couldn’t be seen in the mass of bodies. And the doors were shut again. But Gordon could be heard screaming obscenities.
Per Divish and other reporters, the fight between Segura and Gordon started with beef over Gordon dropping a routine fly ball during Monday’s game:
A weird thing to fight a teammate over, especially since it came in a game the Mariners won, but I strongly suspect a summer’s worth of frustrations were also involved. The Mariners have lost 17 games in the standings to the A’s since mid-June, and now trail Oakland by 5.5 games for the last wild card spot. It’s been a long season, with a disappointing second half, and now that the reality is setting in that the playoffs probably aren’t in store, guys get testy.
“Things happen in a clubhouse,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Our guys are working through it and talking through it. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. It happens a lot more than you know. Almost every year you see it. Sometimes it brings teams together. Things reach a boiling point and you have to get it off your chest. With how our season has gone, the frustration mounts. Along the way, there are bumps in the road.”
The fans have certainly checked out, anyway:
Mariners players refused to comment on the fight, with Robinson Cano speaking for pretty much everyone when he said, “What happens in here, stays in here.” That’s fine. This does happen. I can’t even imagine how many of my co-workers I’d punch if I had to see their stupid faces every single day for seven months at a time. The most important thing is being able to compartmentalize and be able to blog play baseball through your searing irritation with your co-workers’ foibles and fuck-ups.
“The thing is, you need to be professional,” Servais said, “and we’ll get ready to play the game tonight.” After the fight, the Mariners went out and lost 5-3 to the Orioles, with Dee Gordon totally botching a rundown. Jean Segura wasn’t available for comment afterward.