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Yasiel Puig still doesn’t want to talk to Joe Torre. Per the Indians Twitter account, Puig has dropped his appeal for the three-game suspension he was given for his role in the melee that was his last action as a member of the Reds.
Yasiel Puig has dropped his appeal and will serve a 3-game suspension beginning tonight.
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) August 12, 2019
Let's win today's game.#RallyTogether pic.twitter.com/FIDzZnyC6m
While this is a disappointment, as every single Indians fan without exception has discovered their love for the Wild Horse’s indomitable passion on the field, it was a near certainty Puig would miss time for his actions in the benches-clearing incident. In case you need a reminder or simply want to see the absolute madness that was the Reds-Pirates clash, it began with Keone Kela throwing at Derek Dietrich’s head and hit fever pitch when Amir Garrett decided to fight all of Pittsburgh by himself.
The Reds' and Pirates' benches have cleared. pic.twitter.com/za8hYc0zuX
— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) July 31, 2019
As seen in the video, Puig’s role did not involve any actual punches, but his enthusiasm and support of his teammates clearly riled the delicate sensibilities of Joe Torre, who determined his outburst worthy of three games worth of thinking about what he did.
Reasoning with commandant Torre is a poor proposition, because you’d have to find some logic in his actions and ... well, I sure as hell can’t. For instance, Puig got one more game than Jake Marisnick got for breaking Johnathan Lucroy’s nose and giving him a concussion with a clearly illegal slide and one fewer game than Gary Sanchez got for throwing punches at guys who were already on the ground.
So, that’s it. Puig will serve his time and return to the Tribe after the Red Sox series, hopefully refreshed and ready to wave goodbye to some more opponents.