There was a benches-clearing incident in Jupiter, Florida during the spring training game between the Nats and Cardinals on Monday. It all started when Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan (he of the legendary fit fame) bumped into Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols while running down the first base line. The Cards thought it was intentional so Chris Carpenter hit Laynce Nix two batters later. In the bottom half of the inning, Nats pitcher Livan Hernandez threw at Colby Rasmus to even the score and admitted it was intentional.
What seemed to throw everything off and cause the benches to clear was when Cardinals pitcher Miguel Batista threw at Nats shortstop Ian Desmond in the 7th. Since the hit batsmen score was 1-1, the Nats felt dosing Desmond was unnecessary. Even if the Cardinals had gone up 2-1 in the hit batsmen score, the Nats ended everything when Ian Desmond dropped the ultimate zinger on Batista. After the game, Desmond said “Yeah, it was intentional, but I mean Miggy throws like Miss Iowa. It’s no big deal.”
That line from Desmond traces back to last season when Batista, then a National, talked about fans being disappointed to see him start a game instead of Stephen Strasburg. Batista explained it “imagine if you go to see Miss Universe, then you end up having Miss Iowa, you might get those kind of boos.” The quote got back to Miss Iowa who responded to the Des Moines Register saying “I know I can throw a pitch or two! The question is, can Miguel Batista walk the runway in a swimsuit?”
Batista then tried to patch things up, and Miss Iowa ended up flying out to a Nats game to throw out a first pitch. The story was extremely popular last year and it’s no surprise Desmond remembered it. The question is: will this result in another appearance from Katherine Connors, because that’s about the only thing that can smooth everything over at this point.
And why is it that Nyjer Morgan always is starting fights?
