Pirates Notebook: Relief pitcher Gallagher believes fine is unfair
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Sean Gallagher is a bit upset about being fined.
Don't misunderstand, it isn't the $750 -- he gladly will give that to charity. Rather, it is the grounds for the penalty for hitting Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks in his Pirates debut July 10 and the timing. The fine came this past week, not long after Brewers manager Ken Macha complained to Major League Baseball officials about Weeks and Prince Fielder absorbing so many plunkings that they lead the majors in that category.
Gallagher had pitcher Dave Bush on first, after a forceout, and a 4-1 Pirates deficit when he hit Weeks with the first pitch of the at-bat.
"It was ridiculous," Gallagher said of the fine. "My agent texted me [about it], and I replied, 'Funny joke.'
"The first game I got traded over here. It was an inside fastball I tried to throw the heck out of. It's not my fault their guys get hit all of the time.
"I think the thing was really questionable. The fine came out a couple of days ago, and Macha complained to MLB when they were in Atlanta [last week]. Shoot, all you got to do is look at my numbers: I don't have the greatest control right now. "
Gallagher said his agent is appealing on his behalf.
The lowest overall payroll in the major leagues and a bunch of younger players? That's the formula the San Diego Padres have used thus far in compiling the best record in the National League and the third-best mark in baseball, behind the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays.
"They actually remind me of the '02 Angels," Brendan Donnelly said of his former World Series teammates shortly before he was designated for assignment. The pitching coach of that club? The Padres manager, Bud Black.
"What I've seen, they do things the right way," utilityman Bobby Crosby added.
First Published July 26, 2010 12:00 am
