Shelley Duncan, Yanks brawl with Rays

After this weekend’s home plate collision between Tampa Bay and New York that broke rookie catcher Francisco Cervelli’s wrist, Joe Girardi was outraged. Rays manager Joe Maddon was angry at Girardi’s outrage. And Shelley Duncan was so irate he said this to the media Sunday: “They showed what is acceptable to them and how they’re going to play the game,” Duncan said Sunday, “so we’re going to go out there to match their intensity - or even exceed it.” And Shelley did just that when the two teams met up yesterday. Shelley slid into second base with spikes up. Way up. As in hip-level up. And his foot went right into Akinori Iwamura. Here is Duncan’s explanation : “The ball beat me by quite a bit, and when you’re out by a mile, there are only two things to do: try a weird slide around the base or to slide hard into his glove,” Duncan said. “I slid hard into his glove.” Shelley didn’t exactly ... [link]