Get a Grip, Matt Garza.
Hey, Matt Garza!
You feeling a little bit better lately? We sure hope so. Because let's be real: You were more than a bit overheated on Saturday.
So overheated, in fact, that when we look back at the last couple of days, your behavior was the most disturbing thing exhibited by a player on the Rangers — even in the face of your teammate Nelson Cruz getting suspended 50 games for doping. Heck, after Cruz's excuse-free statement, we might actually like him more than we did before his suspension, to be honest.
But back to you and your ridiculous behavior.
I mean, we get it, you were pitching in a huge game and got aggravated with the multiple bunts the A's laid down to exploit your — and we're being charitable here — less-than-stellar fielding. It's gotta be frustrating having good stuff all day only to have your efforts stymied by a bunch of small-ball antics.
So, like we said, we kind of understand.
In fact, we actually approve of the fact that you got a little mad. At their best, sports reflect a sort of social contract between fans and the athletes they cheer for, and we like when players recognize that and try to uphold their end of the bargain. So it's good to see players who get as upset as we do when they don't.
But the way you acted on that anger though was totally unacceptable.
With the broadcast cameras on you in the dugout in the top of the eighth, you could clearly be seen calling Eric Sogard — the Athletics utility man who had successfully executed a safety squeeze against you the previous half-inning — among other things, a “fucking pussy,” which is totally not cool.
It's not OK to insult someone by insinuating that they're feminine and that there's something wrong with them because they are. What the hell does doing something that you perceive as cowardly on the field have to do with being a woman?
Why even yell at the opposition — from the safety of your own dugout, mind you — like an idiot at all? Why not just destroy a bat rack or a Gatorade cooler or the bullpen phone?
As you quickly made clear after the game, going on a misogynistic rant wasn't going to be enough. Oh no, you just had to take to Twitter and engage in some more abuse. In a series of now-deleted tweets — which were screen-grabbed for posterity by Twitter user Mike Taddow right here — you continued lobbing gendered insults at Sogard and, in what was the lowest of many lowlights, you chose to go after Sogard's wife, Kaycee.
Jesus, man.
Next time, maybe be just a little more self-aware, OK?
Oh, and take a little extra fielding practice while you're at it. After all, what the A's did wasn't cheap. It was just good baseball.