The Loop
Yasiel Puig tries to single-handedly fight entire Pittsburgh Pirates organization
As the old saying goes, you can take the Yasiel Puig out of LA, but you can't take the Yasiel Puig out of Yasiel Puig. Now a member of the Cincinnati Reds, Puig has been kicking around the NL Central for a few months, but officially announced himself to fans on Sunday when he single-handedly tried to fight half of Pittsburgh midway through the latest edition of their tepid division rivalry. THIS IS SPARTA!
The fun started when Pirates pitcher Chris Archer deliberately threw behind Derek Dietrich, who committed the capital crime of staring down a home run for a few precious seconds in the second inning. Manager David Bell was quickly out of the dugout to huff and puff, but everything was under control until Yasiel Puig came screaming out of stage right, ready to wipe the Steel City entirely from the map. The benches cleared, everything heated up and then cooled down, and just when it looked like the dust-up was finally dusted, Puig came charging in once more with feeling.
After the game, Puig delivered this lovely bit of nonchalant performance art about what actually went down out there.
Cool as an Antarctic cucumber, that man. But while Puig sometimes plays Mr. Suave on TV, this wasn't exactly his first rodeo, tormenting the Giants for years with his explosive bat (and temper).
While Yasiel seems calm about the prospects of getting suspended ("I didn't throw a punch," he says), his past histrionics make certainly improve the chances he'll fielding a call from Manfred & Co. in the coming days. But hey, when some dainty Persian god king comes at your civilization, you're not gonna just stand there and take it, and same goes for Chris F'n Archer.
