Dodgers’ Dave Roberts says Manny Machado threw at him with ‘the intention behind it’
By Fabian Ardaya, Andy McCullough and Ken Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO – Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday he believed San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado threw a baseball at him between innings of Game 2 of the NLDS, adding another layer to a emotional debacle in San Diego’s win to restore parity. the series at 1-1.
Roberts, who said he noticed Machado’s throw after watching the video, called the All-Star third baseman’s actions “disturbing.”
“There was intent behind it,” Roberts said. “It almost didn’t hit me because there was a net. And that was very annoying. If it was directed at me, I would be very… it’s quite disrespectful.
‘I don’t know his intention. I don’t want to speak for him. But I did see the video. And the ball was pointed at me with something behind it.”
A person in the Dodgers dugout confirmed Monday that Machado’s throw went to the end of the dugout closest to home plate, where Roberts sits during games. The Athletics observed a video that showed Machado’s throw hitting the net in front of Roberts and hurtling toward home plate. In the video, referee Tripp Gibson approaches Machado moments later.
The Dodgers submitted the video to Major League Baseball for review.
“We are aware of it,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said The Athletics. “We will reserve comment until that is done.”
Dave Roberts said he saw a video of Manny Machado throwing a ball into the Dodgers’ dugout in his direction and in his direction. Called it ‘disturbing’ and ‘disrespectful’.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) October 7, 2024
Machado, who played for Roberts and the Dodgers in 2018, says The Athletics on Sunday night, he did indeed throw a baseball at the Dodgers dugout. How hard he threw was up for debate between the two sides.
“Did Flaherty throw the ball hard to the other guy?” Machado said The Athleticsreferring to Dodgers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty hitting Fernando Tatis Jr. hit with a pitch the previous half inning. “They can say whatever they want. I threw the ball like I always throw it in a dugout.”
Flaherty, who had just been removed from the game, objected to the throw and entered into a shouting match with Machado that had begun when Flaherty struck out Machado the previous half inning.
“I think things have gotten out of hand there,” Flaherty said Monday. “When that happens and he throws the ball, I wish I would have just let him go. That’s not how you want things to go. You want to keep it on the field and concentrate on the game. … Things were said. It was hard to hear.”
Did Machado’s throw cross a line?
“It’s not a normal thing to do,” Flaherty said. He said he had “no idea” whether he would talk to Machado before Game 3 in San Diego on Tuesday.
“It probably quickly became a little smoother than expected,” Flaherty said of the series.
However, Flaherty wasn’t the only person in the Dodgers dugout who was irritated by Machado’s pitch on Sunday night.
“You don’t respect the other team,” infielder Miguel Rojas said. “There’s no reason why you should throw the ball in our dugout. If he wants to do something, there are other ways. Throwing the ball into our dugout is pretty disrespectful. That’s something you don’t do if you call yourself a veteran of this game and have been around for a long time.
“You don’t see guys throwing a bat in the dugout or a ball, anything like that when no one’s watching. What if that ball goes over the dugout and hits someone in the face? That’s going to be a problem.”
Flaherty insisted the apparent inciting incident — hitting Tatis Jr., who homered in the first inning — with a pitch to lead off the sixth was unintentional. Roberts said that when Machado lunged at Flaherty immediately afterward, the manager looked at Machado and shook his head to indicate it was not done on purpose.
“As a baseball player, everyone understands that you don’t do that: deliberately put the leading man on base, trailing by three, four, five. It just doesn’t make sense,” Roberts said.
That was his only interaction with Machado on Sunday night before the throw, Roberts said.
The evening progressed from there, eventually requiring a delay after fans threw at least one baseball at Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar and ended up on the field near Tatis in right field. Profar’s trolling of the Dodgers fans after robbing a home run in the first set the tone for a Padres romp, flaring tensions on a tense evening.
“Obviously the team there loves the villain-type role and they feed off of that,” Roberts said. “So whatever gets us going, the motivation is individually, collectively, to win a baseball game, to win a series.”
(Photo by Manny Machado: Rothmuller/Getty Images))
