Angels, Royals Fight to Finish

Baseball: A flurry of beanballs and 12 ejections obscure Washburn's first victory, 7-5.

Neither the Angels nor Royals could recall any history of bad blood between the teams, but there is now, especially after Royal infielder Felix Martinez sucker-punched Angel utility player Frank Bolick in the mouth during a ninth-inning melee that delayed the game for 15 minutes.

That, however, will not be in the report the umpires file with the American League office, a lengthy rap sheet that is sure to result in several fines and suspensions.

Oh, and one other thing: Washburn got his first major league victory, thanks to his 6 1/3-inning, two-hit effort that led the Angels to a 7-5 win over the Kansas City Royals before a crowd of 12,020 in Kauffman Stadium.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Angel pitcher Jarrod Washburn saw just about everything in his major league debut Tuesday night--beanballs galore, two bench-clearing brawls, a dozen ejections, nine relief pitchers, five errors, two home runs . . .

"That . . . should be kicked out of baseball," fumed Angel catcher Phil Nevin, who started the first brawl when he charged the mound in the seventh inning after getting hit by a pitch for the second time. "If I'm catching and he steps into the batter's box, I may just drop him, and there may not be one of his teammates backing him up."

Nevin had been ejected and was in the clubhouse when the ninth-inning brawl started, and he saw Martinez's punch when the, uh, highlights of the game were shown in the clubhouse.

"If I would have seen that live, I would have ran onto the field naked and killed him," Nevin said. "He's a disgrace to baseball, and you can tell that to him. If he has a problem with that, you tell him to come see me."

Martinez, heavily criticized for kicking Minnesota's Otis Nixon in the face and breaking the outfielder's jaw as Nixon slid into second in April, speaks very limited English, and he waved reporters off after the game.

Emotions were running so high afterward that the Royals stationed six security officers in the foyer between the team's clubhouses and one outside each clubhouse. There were no further incidents.

"People will see what kind of player Martinez is," said Angel reliever Rich DeLucia, ejected for hitting Dean Palmer in the eighth. "He nailed Otis Nixon, he sucker-punched Bolick. The league has to do something. How many people does he have to hurt before something is done?"

Royal reliever Jeff Montgomery said, "I think the league president is going to have a lot of fun watching this video," but Dr. Gene Budig, American League president, was actually at the game and met with umpires afterward.

"I'm sure there will be guys suspended," Angel Manager Terry Collins said. "You think enough is enough, but then it went on and on and on."

The flash point for Tuesday night's tensions came when Nevin was hit in the back by a Chris Haney pitch in the fifth and drilled in the back of the neck by Jim Pittsley in the seventh.

Nevin glared at Haney before going to first base, but he thought Pittsley's pitch was intentional and charged the mound. Pittsley tackled Nevin and the dugouts and bullpens emptied, but very few punches were thrown in a large scrum that quickly dissipated.