The Modern Day Don Drysdale

Zack Greinke does not mind pitching inside and the Dodgers have needed a pitcher like this for a long time. Greinke is a modern day Don Drysdale. Baseball legend has it that Drysdale used to keep a list tucked in his hat of hitters he needed to go after. After Greinke plunked Cody Ross, there is no doubt in my mind that there was an unspoken order from Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson to go after Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig, the hottest batter in the Dodgers lineup. Gibson is an old school baseball purist who believes in pitchers protecting their hitters thru retaliatory strikes. Gibson's hard line, no nonsense approach to the game was essential to the Dodgers beating the Oakland A's in the 1988 World Series. Luckily the Dodgers had Greinke on the mound. He nailed Diamondbacks Catcher Miguel Montero between the humbers after the Puig beaning and that was when the umpire should have put a stop to it. It ended when Ian Kennedy went head hunting (that seemed to be a common theme for Kennedy) on Greinke and then a brief baseball scrum ensued. No one got hurt, no serious punches were thrown, and ot ends up looking like a WWE cage match than the MMA. I do not like the fact that Kennedy did go head hunting on both Puig and Greinke because players can be seriously hurt and careers ended. Puig got hit in the face but was able to stay in the game. The Dodgers ultimate retaliation occurred in the bottom of the eighth inning when Dodgers Catcher Tim Federowicz hit a bases clearing double to nail down the Dodgers 5-3 win. Kenley Jansen (it's about time) came in to close the door for his third save of the season. A baseball fight can have a unifying effect on a team and Greinke proved himself a team player by protecting his batters.