Pastime Baseball League Monthly
Vol. 2, Monday, Sept. 1, 2009 (cont.)
Tensions Boil Over Between New Orleans and Memphis
Hinske, Baldwin Suspended For Fight
NEW ORLEANS -- It's not the closest race, but it may be the most intense.
The resurgent New Orleans Knights trimmed the Memphis Strummers' lead in the Southern League East Division to 6 games with a little more than 40 games remaining, and it seems Memphis may be getting a little tired of hearing how much trouble they are in.
In game two of a four-game tilt, New Orleans took a 5-3 lead on a sixth inning 2-run homer by Curtis Granderson. After going 2-2 on the next batter, Eric Hinske, Lady Baldwin put a fastball right between the shoulder blades, sparking a bench clearing brawl that took 14 minutes to clear away.
"Why the hell would I hit him 2-2," Baldwin asked incredulously after the game. "They are trying to manufacture an intensity that isn't there," he said, alluding to the still significant distance between them.
"We've trimmed it to 6 games," Hinske said afterward. "They're getting nervous, and he decided to take a cheap shot because he didn't get the job done."
Both players received 3-game suspensions, which Knights manager Walter Alston termed a "joke," as Baldwin wouldn't even miss a start. Hinske, who hit .352 in August, was lost for three games. The Knights lost both of the final two in the Memphis series, putting them back to 8 games.
The teams don't meet again in September, but meet five times in the last two weeks of the season in October.