A couple of people thought I was putting too much blame on Pedro for throwing Don Zimmer to the ground yesterday. In my first post on the subject, I write that it looked like Zim deserved it. In my second post, I said "Pedro beat up an old man." That was unfair to Pedro.

A good report on the all the incidents at the game, and people's reaction to it can be found in Tyler Kepner's NY Times article. It's very clear Zimmer was the aggressor:

David Ortiz tried to settle Ramirez, but both benches and bullpens had begun to empty. Zimmer bolted from the Yankees' dugout toward Martínez, a stationary target in foul territory in front of the Boston dugout. Martínez looked stunned and said something. Zimmer kept charging and lunged at Martínez with his fists. Then Martínez grabbed Zimmer and flung him away.

Martínez said he was "shocked" that Zimmer was trying to punch him. "He's an older man, a wiser man," Martínez said. "I respect Joe and him. I should never hit him. I was just trying to dodge him away."

As Martínez stood there, Zimmer's body landed hard on the grass, bouncing and rolling to a stop. The Yankees were predictably outraged. "You don't do that to a senior citizen, especially to Don Zimmer, a well-respected person," Garcia said. "He should have just backed away."

A more editorial view of the game comes from the Boston Globe's Jackie MacMullan. Jackie has some more quotes including this one from Derek Jeter:

"All I saw was the bald head go down," said shortstop Derek Jeter. "I wasn't sure if it was Zimm or Boomer [David Wells]. Hey, Zimm is intense. That's the only way you can stay in this game all these years."

When I saw it happen, I thought it was Wells, because, in my mind, going after Pedro was something Wells would do.

MacMullan sums up this way:

But Martinez wasn't the only loser. The game of baseball took a hit yesterday. The fourth-inning scrum may have been great theater, but it was an all-too-sad, all-too-familiar refrain for these two storied franchises.

Martinez was out of line for throwing at Garcia. Zimmer was certifiably crazy to try to be Rocky Balboa at his age. Ramirez overreacted to Clemens's pitch, and looked all the worse for it after he struck out on the same at-bat. No Red Sox employee should be waving towels in the Yankees bullpen. No New York relievers should be punching anybody for waving a towel.

It's the same old story. The Red Sox behaved badly, and lost. The Yankees behaved badly, and won.

There's a bit of moral equivalency in that last statement. Martinez and Ramirez behaved badley out of frustration. The Yankees did nothing to provoke them other than play the game well. Garica and Zimmer behaved badly because they were defending themselves and their teammates. I won't condone that, but I understand it. The groundskeeper and Nelson behaved badly because both appear to be idiots.

Let's hope they all play nice today.