Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers had his 20- game suspension reduced by an arbitrator and will be eligible to return more than a week early.
Rogers was suspended by Major League Baseball last month for his run-in with a pair of cameramen in late June, then lost an appeal and was slated to be out until August 18. But through the arbitration process, he will serve just 13 games and is scheduled to pitch Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox.
"I strongly disagree with arbitrator [Shyam] Das' decision today," said Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig in a statement. "It sends the wrong message to every one of our constituents: the fans, the media, and our players. There is a standard of behavior that is expected of our players, which was breached in this case. The arbitrator's decision diminishes that standard and is contrary to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.
In my opinion, the decision is seriously ill-conceived." On the other hand, Rangers manager Buck Showalter was very pleased with the ruling and is happy to have his ace back on the mound.
"Our reaction is we're excited to get Kenny back as a teammate and a pitcher for our organization and looking forward to him helping us compete against the Red Sox," said Showalter.
The problems for Rogers began on June 28th when he told a cameraman and a reporter near the clubhouse to back off. One night later, Rogers went into a tirade.
Coming out of the dugout for pregame warmups, Rogers first pushed Fox Sports Net Southwest photographer David Mammeli. Rogers later shoved Larry Rodriguez, a photographer for Dallas-Fort Worth TV station KDFW, and then threw the camera to the ground and kicked it.
Rogers approached other photographers and threatened to break other cameras, but then came off the field and was escorted into the team clubhouse.
Rodriguez was wheeled off on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital, treated and released. Rogers was sent home about an hour after the incident.
About a week later, Rogers issued a public apology. He then turned himself into police on a pair of misdemeanor assault charges.
The 40-year-old lefthander is 11-4 this season and is second in the American League with a 2.77 earned run average.
Rock On,
:mj14: :mj14: :mj14:
Rogers was suspended by Major League Baseball last month for his run-in with a pair of cameramen in late June, then lost an appeal and was slated to be out until August 18. But through the arbitration process, he will serve just 13 games and is scheduled to pitch Wednesday against the Boston Red Sox.
"I strongly disagree with arbitrator [Shyam] Das' decision today," said Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig in a statement. "It sends the wrong message to every one of our constituents: the fans, the media, and our players. There is a standard of behavior that is expected of our players, which was breached in this case. The arbitrator's decision diminishes that standard and is contrary to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.
In my opinion, the decision is seriously ill-conceived." On the other hand, Rangers manager Buck Showalter was very pleased with the ruling and is happy to have his ace back on the mound.
"Our reaction is we're excited to get Kenny back as a teammate and a pitcher for our organization and looking forward to him helping us compete against the Red Sox," said Showalter.
The problems for Rogers began on June 28th when he told a cameraman and a reporter near the clubhouse to back off. One night later, Rogers went into a tirade.
Coming out of the dugout for pregame warmups, Rogers first pushed Fox Sports Net Southwest photographer David Mammeli. Rogers later shoved Larry Rodriguez, a photographer for Dallas-Fort Worth TV station KDFW, and then threw the camera to the ground and kicked it.
Rogers approached other photographers and threatened to break other cameras, but then came off the field and was escorted into the team clubhouse.
Rodriguez was wheeled off on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital, treated and released. Rogers was sent home about an hour after the incident.
About a week later, Rogers issued a public apology. He then turned himself into police on a pair of misdemeanor assault charges.
The 40-year-old lefthander is 11-4 this season and is second in the American League with a 2.77 earned run average.
Rock On,
:mj14: :mj14: :mj14:
