Aug. 8, 2011
RATTO ARCHIVEGIANTS PAGE GIANTSVIDEO
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The Giants helped fight the law Friday night, and the law took a pass.
Major League Baseball declared that Shane Victorino would receive a three-game suspension for charging the mound and then shoving an umpire in Fridays brawl with the Giants, but the Giants only punishments were fines to Ramon Ramirez, who hit Victorino with the precipitant pitch, and catcher Eli Whiteside, for his unconvincing Muhammad Ali dance and subsequent Jeff Van Gundy imitation on Placido Polanco.
Pablo Sandoval, who seemed to have thrown a punch in the middle of the melee, received nothing, apparently because it was unclear who or what he was aiming at, or whether he connected.
The news is a relief to the Giants, who could conceivably have lost their most reliable hitter in Sandoval, and one of its two catchers in Whiteside. It also shows a good deal of leniency overall, with Victorino paying for grabbing home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski.
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Thus, Giant fans will not get to claim they were unfairly treated here. In fact, they were treated extraordinarily well, at a time when they could use any stray break that comes their way.
Ray Ratto is a columnist at CSNBayArea.com