The thing that sucks about being Carlos Gomez—a guy who’s earned a reputation as a “hot head,” or whatever it is grumpy baseball men are calling people—is that every little thing he does is going to be taken as a slight.
In the top of the sixth inning of last night’s game against the Yankees, Gomez barked at himself after popping out on a pitch he should have hit hard. Gomez has been in a miserable slump since being traded to the Astros, so it makes sense that he would be angry at himself, but that display of emotion was apparently too much for the Yankees bench to abide:
(Be sure to watch the whole video, if only to marvel at YES play-by-play man Michael Kay being a shameless homer and cudgeling Gomez with a replay of a completely harmless slide from earlier in the game.)
This is remarkably silly, and even sillier were Joe Girardi’s comments after the game:
“I just told him, ‘Play the game the right way.’ They are kicking our rear ends, show a little professionalism to the pitcher. I know you missed a pitch and you are frustrated by it. I just think it is a little too much.”
Thankfully, Gomez had the proper response:
“If they feel frustrated, that’s not my problem,” Gomez told Rivera. “This is part of the game, part of the nature of competition, and those who don’t know how to compete, can just go home and cry.”
The good news is that Gomez homered in the top of the seventh and the Astros won 15-1.