Manny Machado apologizes for actions before Sunday’s ejection
Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado issued an apology Monday after being ejected from Sunday’s game against the Oakland Athletics for appearing to intentionally throw his bat on a swing-and-miss.
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The bat nearly hit Oakland’s Josh Donaldson, who had an incident with Machado earlier in the series, and came one pitch after A’s pitcher Fernando Abad brushed him back with a pitch inside. Clearly, the Orioles’ young star wasn’t too happy about that, and decided to take matters into his own hands by doing something very, very immature.
On Monday, he owned up to that:
“I definitely want to apologize to all my teammates, my coaching staff, the organization and to Oakland, and the fans also, the way I overreacted,” Machado said.
“It was a frustrating weekend, and I let my emotions get the best of me.”
After the game, Machado initially claimed the bat slipped out of his hand, and some players from Oakland weren’t too happy with his antics. Now that he’s finally accepted responsibility and apologized, here’s to guessing that most parties would simply like to move on from the incident (although the A’s likely won’t be forgetting any time soon).
Given Machado’s stature, it’s sometimes easy to forget that he’s just 21 years old, and most players his age are still in the minor leagues. Obviously, someone who’s made the All-Star team at Age 20 is held to a higher standard, though, and throwing baseball bats at people is a behavior not accepted in pretty much any way of life.
It’s unclear what else will come from this, however, so Machado may be able to get his focus back to baseball. His numbers are down across the board this season, with a .235/.291/.346 batting line over 150 plate appearances. Last season, Machado averaged one double every 13.1 at-bats. This season, it’s been one every 45.