Most Popular White Papers
Clubhouse feuds a normal part of the game
USA TODAY, June, 2008 by Bob Nightengale
Tags: Boston Red Sox, Games, team
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig didn't particularly care for one another.
Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson traded barbs.
Don Sutton and Steve Garvey never hung out together.
But nowadays, when teammates feud, their tensions are aired endlessly, thanks to the 24-hour news cycle.
Just last week, Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez slapped teammate Kevin Youkilis in the dugout. Four nights later, Tampa Bay Rays catcher Dioner Navarro and starter Matt Garza had a staredown on the pitcher's mound, leading moments later to a dugout skirmish.
Yet sometimes, the tension has eased even before the all-sports networks have moved on to the next jarring image.
"You always hate to see those things happen, but it happens," says Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella, who had pitcher Carlos Zambrano and catcher Michael Barrett feud in the dugout and then trade punches in the clubhouse last year, a sequence ...