ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 4, 1996 TAG: 9606040054
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cleveland teammates Albert Belle and Julian Tavarez, and Milwaukee's Mike Matheny each received five-game suspensions Monday for their parts in a bench-clearing brawl Friday night.
American League president Gene Budig said Belle was suspended ``since his action not only threatened injury to an individual but also led to the later disruption of the game.''
Belle, who has been involved in a series of confrontations, was recently ordered by Budig to undergo anger counseling.
The players' union has appealed all three rulings, meaning the suspensions wouldn't become effective until hearings are held.
The 10-minute melee started in the ninth inning Friday night when Matheny charged the mound after Tavarez threw a fastball behind his back. During the fight, Tavarez body-slammed umpire Joe Brinkman to the ground.
In the eighth inning, a fastball by Marshall Boze hit Belle on the shoulder. When Eddie Murray grounded to second one batter later, Belle flattened second baseman Fernando Vina with a forearm to the face when Vina tried to tag the Indians slugger. In the ninth, Belle was hit again in his left shoulder, this time by Terry Burrows.
Matheny said he thought his suspension was excessive.
``This whole thing's new to me, I've never really had to deal with it before,'' he said. ``But I was asking around after it happened and realized that charging the mound usually results in some kind of suspension, but usually a three-game suspension. Five was a little bit of a surprise.''
Matheny said he felt he had no choice when Tavarez's pitch sailed behind him but to charge the mound.
``It was obviously intended to hit me and I had to defend myself,'' Matheny said. ``I didn't want to risk getting back in the box and possibly getting hit in the head.''
Budig said Tavarez was suspended ``for placing the safety of an umpire at risk - which is inexcusable. Umpire Joe Brinkman was attempting to restore order when he was slammed to the ground.''
Umpires' union head Richie Phillips called Tavarez's punishment ``woefully inadequate.''
Phillips said the union protested the decision to Budig and ``requested a review and a reconsideration.''
``I was shocked when I heard it was only five games,'' Phillips said. ``I thought it should've been a minimum of 30 days, and up to 60 days to the remainder of the season.''
In his incident report, Brinkman said he believed Tavarez's claim that the pitcher didn't know he was throwing an umpire to the ground.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP 1. Albert Belle walks away after flatteningby CNBMilwaukee second baseman Fernando Vina on Friday night. 2. Cleveland
Indians slugger Albert Belle, one of the top hitters in the American
League, has been suspended five games for triggering a 10-minute
brawl in a game against the Milawaukee Brewers on Friday night.
color.