Beating the 'Bushes' For Bad Behavior

Let's not beat around the bush--K-Rod beating up his father in law and leaving the Mets without a closer for the rest of the season was a bush league act.

"What a bush-league thing to do!" wrote one commenter on NYDailyNews.com. "DOCK HIS SALARY!"

To be sure, this is not the typical usage of bush league, which usually connotes on-field actions that transgress baseball's unwritten rules.

Of course, K-Rod has been cited for a few of those too. Earlier this season, he lashed out at Willie Harris after Harris complained about being hit with a pitch.

"I’m not going to paint his uncontrolled, unnecessary behavior on Sunday as something inspirational, or something we need to see more of from the Mets," wrote one commenter on MetsToday.com. "It was bush league, and did nothing for the Mets’ reputation other than to make them look like crybabies."

Perhaps K-Rod's bushiest behavior thus far occured last year, when he and then-Yankees closer Brian Bruney almost came to blows after BB called Rodriguez out for over-exuberant celebrations.

"[K-Rod] is not a very well liked player and in fact their were always rumblings in the Angel clubhouse about his bs antics and bush league celebrations," wrote one reader on the Journal News (NY) baseball blog.

Bush league of course means low-level, trashy behavior--actions not deemed worth of men who've made the Big Show. Maybe it's a Rodriguez thing, but it seems the game's best player--yes, Alex Rodriguez--is the one ballplayer most identified with bush league play. The slapping incident against Bronson Arroyo and the Red Sox in the ALCS. ("You know what, it was a bush-league play," said Curt Schilling.) The barking at the Blue Jays infielder as he attempted to catch a pop-up ("Big league smarts or bush league stunt," wondered the AP.) The stepping on Dallas Braden's mound. The announcing his free agency during the World Series.

You get the picture.

Bush league. Geez, the games in the bush league must've been fun to watch! Brawls! Fielders getting pantsed, catchers sliding Wet Willies through batter's ear holes! Players rubbing their rear ends on pitchers' beloved pitching rubbers.

Where does "bush league" come from? Wikipedia's baseball glossary offers this definition:

A slang term used to describe play that is of minor league or unprofessional quality. The "bushes" or the "sticks" are small towns where minor league teams may operate, the latter term also used in the acting profession.

Dictionary.com says the term dates back to 1908.

...from bush in the slang sense of "rural, provincial," which originally was not a value judgment.

The Seattle rock outfit Pearl Jam offered the song "BushLeaguer" on 2002's "Riot Act" album. The song ripped then-President George Bush, and featured some baseball-inspired lyrics about the former president and Texas Rangers owner.

A confidence man, but why so beleaguered?
He's not a leader, he's a Texas leaguer
Swinging for the fence, got lucky with a strike
Drilling for fear, makes the job simple
Born on third, thinks he got a triple

Five Bush's have played in the major leagues, according to Baseball-Reference.com, most recently Randy Bush (1982-1993) and Homer Bush (1997-2004).

Don't let Homer's moniker fool you--the guy only hit 11 dingers across nine seasons.

Bush's on-field behavior, however, was anything but bush league.

K-Rod's History of 'Violence'

A little friendly fist-bumping went too far between K-Rod and his father-in-law

The latest on [former?] Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez is that he's out for the year in an injury sustained while pummeling his father-in-law outside the kiddie room at Citi Field. Any Mets fan knows K-Rod's had a string of violent incidents this year, including a grapple with the Mets bullpen coach. (The bullpen coach? Isn't that like the Barney of the coaching squad?)

I don't recall K-Rod ever having such incidents--or ever having his character questioned--while he was with the Angels. Then again, New York has a way of coaxing bad behavior out of people.

In fact, K-Rod and "violence" have long been linked. So herky jerky, so spasmodic, so whiplashical, is Rodriguez's windup that it's typically described as "violent."

Back in 2008, Scout.com said Rodriguez was, in fact, trying to take some of the "violence" out of his approach to the plate. "I have a really violent delivery," conceded K-Rod.

Last year, a pundit on FanNation.com said of Rodriguez:

K-Rod's violent windup makes you wonder how his shoulder stays in socket and how he also doesn't fall on his face. Rodriguez's windup also screams desire and emotion.

K-Rod isn't the only hurler who's prone to a bit of violence while on the bump. (And I borrow "bump" as a synonym for pitcher's mound from RiverAvenueBlues.com.) A thread on MinorLeagueBall.com is dedicated to "violent" deliveries and grave pitcher injury resulting from them.

Writes some dude:

[Tim] Lincecum will have major issues. He has a violent delivery and has thrown a LOT of offspeed stuff, and a lot of innings all together.

Of course, pitchers aren't the only "violent" players on the field. Here's a quiz for you...when you think of a swing that was described as "violent" over and over throughout his career, who do you think of? Who put the fear of God in third base coaches when he stepped into the plate due to the amount of bat speed that violent delivery generated. Who had a face that Bill Simmons described as the last man you see when you owe your bookie a giant sum of money?

That's right, Gary Sheffield.

"Sheffield mounted a career based on the violent and swift swings of his bat," wrote Bleacher Report last year.

In fact, Sheffield "used the most violent swing in baseball to hit 478 home runs for seven teams," wrote the Washington Times three years ago.

The saturnine Shef always struck me as a violent guy by nature. But if he ever raised his hand to his father-in-law, he wisely did it away from the stadium.

And did not tear thumb ligaments while doing so.

[image: MetsGuide.com]