Miguel Olivo’s Punishment Should Be Severe

I know guys, the title is just a joke. Just a little bit of humor to try to make this bad situation a bit more palatable. No pun intended there. Sometimes life is stranger than fiction. Baseball is no exception. We were shocked to hear on Tuesday afternoon that Dodger prospect Alexander Guerrero had gotten into an altercation with veteran catcher Miguel Olivo.

Olivo had been called up to the Dodgers briefly, and played in about eight games before he was optioned back down once A.J. Ellis returned from the disabled list. Guerrero has been in Albuquerque since the season began. Apparently the Isotopes were playing the Salt Lake City Bees in Salt Lake City.

Catching sure does make you hungry I’m guessing-Steve Mitchelmi, FL, USA; Ll-USA TODAY Sports

During the game Olivo and Guerrero got into a heated argument while on the mound during a pitching change for the Topes. Now I can’t say for sure what happened. Obviously I wasn’t there, but apparently the Isotopes were playing some supreme lazy defense. I.E. not covering bases. So when during one play when Olivo had the ball ready to fire to a base, (I’m guessing it was second base, or possibly third base), there was nobody there to cover.

So the veteran catcher lost his cool. And if you don’t know, Olivo has always been kind of a hot-head. During the pitching change he let Guerrero and a couple of the other guys know, that he was not happy with their lazy defense. I hope the isotopes are not trying to emulate the sloppy Dodger defense.

Anyways, the fight carried over into the dugout, the next inning. As Olivo viciously attscked Guerrero in the dugout. Olivo punched and then bit, yes bit part of Guerrero’s ear off. This is crazy. It’s all over the web. Olivo actually bit a piece of Guerrero’s ear off, it’s like ear gate 2014.

So now the Dodgers are in quite a pickle. During the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s 9-4 win over the Mets at Citi Field, Juan Uribe pulled up lame into second base after doubling. He had to leave the game and  it appears he pulled his hamstring again. This time it seems to be worse. Uribe is probably going to be out for a couple of weeks at the least.

With Uribe out again, it leaves the Dodgers in the lurch at third base. The depth is dangerously thin. Once again Justin Turner will have to take over at the hot corner.

The Dodgers and GM Ned Colletti issued this statement after the indicent….

"“We’re still looking into it,” he said. “We don’t condone it. I don’t think it’s constructive. There will be disagreements, but beyond that it goes over the line.”"

Now we have an issue. Apparently Olivo bit off a small chunk of Guerrero’s ear. Now remember Guerrero was batting .376 with ten home runs down there. While Olivo is an aging veteran who can’t hit above .230 anymore at the major league level. Olivo is 35, Guerrero is only 26.

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Guerrero had to have surgery to sew up his ear after that deranged nut job bit it off. Here’s the problem. The injury to his ear may prevent Guerrero from wearing his batting helmet. He can’t wear a batting helmet because it might pop open his stitches. And if he can’t wear his batting helmet then he can’t hit. And if he can’t hit then he can’t play Baseball. And if he can’t play Baseball then the Dodgers have a big problem. The reports surfacing are that Guerrero could miss up to five weeks. But we don’t know if that is an absolute time frame or not.

But the question is, what should Olivo’s punishment be? Should it fit the crime? I believe that Olivo was not the catching savior some people made him out to be. Sorry to say but Olivo’s days in the majors are numbered, and he should never ever wear Dodger blue again after this incident.

Look, Tim Federowicz, and Drew Butera may not be great hitters, but they’re never going to bite somebody’s ear off. And remember Olivo had already showed some attitude problems by complaining about not wanting to accept an assignment down there. He never wanted to play there from the get-go.

If Guerrero has to miss five weeks of the season because of this, then Olivo should be immediately released from his contract. Yes I know Olivo can hit, but I don’t care. Major leaguers do not act like this. This reminds me of the time when Milton Bradley flipped out and threw water bottles at Dodger fans. That was years ago. Or the time Carlos Perez beat up an innocent and defenseless water cooler in the dugout with a Baseball bat. We’ve seen some insane incidents over the years in Baseball, but this one takes the cake.

I think the Dodgers were preparing to call up Guerrero soon. They’ve been talking about getting him some playing time at third base. Now they may not be able to and the Dodgers are extremely thin at third base.

Major league Baseball Players should not be acting like children. This is completely unacceptable behavior. It’s one thing to punch someone, but to bite their ear off? Now this is something that affects the big club, because we can’t call up Guerrero now, and Uribe is hurt. We need infield help while Uribe is on the mend, and Guerrero was going to provide the Dodgers that.

I’m not saying Guerrero was completely innocent in all of this, but come on, he’s not biting people’s ears off. That’s just insane. I mean throw a punch, fine, but don’t’ bite the guy’s ear off!

I hope that I never see Olivo wear a Dodger uniform ever again. That punishment would fit the crime for costing Guerrero five weeks of his season. And for costing the Dodgers a good infield option. Is this worth it for a guy who is a career .240 MLB hitter?

No, I don’t think it is. You may want to start packing your bags now Olivo. The Dodgers don’t put up with this kind of behavior. Miguel Olivo may have bitten off more than he could chew.