When Manny Machado faced a five-game suspension for his explosive on-field outburst
Manny Machado has been involved in controversies for a while now. Although these might not be big or anything horrible, Machado struggles to control his temper, which can lead to trouble.
In a 2019 match between the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics, the shortstop was tagged by Josh Donaldson when he tried to go towards third base. This resulted in Machado losing his footing, and he became upset with the third baseman.
However, this wasn't the incident where Machado was suspended for five days, rather, it was the start of what led to it.
In the second game between the teams, Machado came up aggressive. He played his long backswing which ended up hitting Derek Norris.
Supposedly, Machado lost his grip on the bat when facing one of Fernando Abad's pitches. The bat ended up flying to Alberto Callapo, and this was the infamous 'Bat Flip' incident. Due to this, the shortstop was suspended for five days by the MLB.
Machado said the following in regards to the incident:
"We're in the heat. We're trying to make the playoffs, we're trying to win a World Series here.
"It was a frustrating weekend, and I just let my emotions get the best of me."
Manny Machado sends it into orbit for the Dominican Republic ☄️🇩🇴
(via @MLB)
https://t.co/Cg4LAvdoRt
Manny Machado tried to appeal the decision made by the MLB, however, his suspension was upheld.
Manny Machado didn't care that Fernando Abad was fined
Manny Machado was 21 years old when the incident occurred in the 2019 season.
The shortstop had to apologize for losing his cool and for the bat flip that cleared the benches. He wasn't the only one punished, as Fernando Abad was also fined for the incident.
Machado made no apology to Abad, saying the following:
"I don't really care. He's part of the Oakland A's organization, and I'm a Baltimore Oriole. I know what I did and he knows what he did. We both got to pay for the consequences.
"Obviously, I talked to everybody -- the team, the organization, myself. I'm just going to see where it goes."
Bucks Showalter, the Orioles manager, defended Machado:
"He's a 21-year-old young man that made a mistake, and he's done the right thing since then to move forward with it the way it's supposed to be done when you make a mistake, like we all have. Now there's some more steps involved before we can put it behind us."
Friendly reminder that Manny Machado is a San Diego Padre the next 11 years https://t.co/BJHZ8fDPSV
Manny Machado admitted that being suspended had been frustrating for him, which was probably part of the idea behind it.
Machado knows that frustration is part of the game, but dealing with it in the right way is essential. After all, the consequences of anger can be far greater than its cause.