Manny Machado's misadventures: A timeline of controversies, missteps, mistakes

Joe Rivera

Manny Machado's misadventures: A timeline of controversies, missteps, mistakes image

Machado Madness is sweeping the nation.

Maybe it's hyperbole, but Manny Machado isn't one to shy away from macho moments, as controversy seemingly follows him wherever he's been through his short career. 

The fiery Machado doesn't come with just immense talent, but also with some baggage in the form of his hustle and his tendency to end up in headlines, no matter how unfair they may be.

From his first ejection to his latest headline-making controversy, below is a timeline of some of Machado's biggest controversies, mishaps and mistakes.

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June 27, 2013: The first ejection

You always remember your first.

On June 27, 2013, Machado was ejected by home plate ump Will Little after arguing a Strike 3 foul-tip call. 

Before the ejection, Machado played every inning of his first 130 games as a major leaguer. 

But there was a little bit of history between Machado and Little: Machado got into it with Little the previous game on a botched call at first base. 

Hardly a controversy, but it's a fun bit of multifaceted Machado history.

June 7-8, 2014: The bat throw saga

This is where things with Machado get interesting.

On June 7, 2014, in a game that pitted Machado's Orioles vs. the Oakland A's, Machado was tagged out trying to advance to third by A's third baseman Josh Donaldson. Machado lost his balance and was visibly upset with Donaldson. Some pleasantries were exchanged, benches were cleared.

There wasn't anything truly egregious about the tag.

"Didn't agree on the tag. Right play, he made the right play, but just didn't agree on the tag that he made on me, and I just had to get up and confront him," Machado said. "You get in the heat of the moment and things start flying. It's part of the game, and you're going to have to continue."

“You have to forget about it and come back tomorrow,” Machado said via the Mercury News.

Come back tomorrow he did, and with a vengeance.

In the second game of the Orioles-A's series, one of Machado's infamous, long backswings nailed A's catcher Derek Norris in the helmet, forcing Norris to leave the game. (It wasn't the last time Machado has done it, either. He hit Manny Pina with his backswing as recently as the 2018 NLCS.)

Then, Machado gave new meaning to "bat flip."

Machado took two pitches from A's reliever Fernando Abad that were way inside. On the third pitch of the at-bat, Machado lost grip of the bat — you be the judge of whether that's accurate — which almost struck third baseman Alberto Callaspo, who was playing the hot corner in place of Donaldson.

The benches cleared. Machado was subsequently thrown out of the game and later handed a five-game suspension from MLB.

"We're in the heat. We're trying to make the playoffs, we're trying to win a World Series here," Machado said via MLB.com. "It was a frustrating weekend, and I just let my emotions get the best of me."

Machado also apologized to his team, Orioles fans, the Oakland A's and specifically Norris for inadvertantly bonking him with his bat.

By the way, Machado did appeal the suspension — however ill-advised that was — and lost.

Machado was 21 at the time, so just young enough to be forgiven for dumb mistakes. The whole situation was ridiculous.

June 7, 2016: Royal beatdown

There must be something about June for Manny.

The O's were taking on the Royals at Camden Yards, and it wasn't pretty: In the fifth inning of a 5-1 game, the late Yordano Ventura threw inside twice to Machado, eventually hitting the third baseman in the back. Machado would charge the mound and — instead of throwing a bat — threw hands.

Machado and Ventura were tossed from the game, and Machado eventually was handed a four-game suspension from MLB. This time, Machado didn't appeal the suspension and served it in its entirety.

"Everybody knows what kind of player he is," Ventura said through an interpreter following the brawl game (via Fox Sports). "One just got away and he came at me, and I have to defend myself at that point."

"I don’t regret anything," Machado said. "When somebody’s throwing 99 at you, it’s going to hurt. You can ruin someone’s career. You don’t think in that situation. You just react to it."

Side note: "What kind of player he is" is certainly laden with foreboding.

April 21 to May 3, 2017

Manny being footy.

On an April 21 game in Baltimore, Machado slid hard into second base, spiking — and injuring — Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia. Machado would attempt to help up Pedroia, who would leave the game with an injury. Machado was ruled out at second.

Tensions would escalate from there. Boston's Eduardo Rodriguez would throw at Machado twice two days later, both pitches missing. Then, Matt Barnes threw a fastball that was way high and way inside, missing Machado and instead hitting his bat — behind his head.

To Machado's credit, he didn't raise a stink nor even say anything on the base paths. In fact, he doubled off Joe Kelly in the same at-bat; Kelly took the place of the ejected Barnes.

Pedroia shared some words with Machado from the Red Sox dugout — something to the effect of "I didn't order the hit" — and revenge was seemingly exacted. Until the following week.

Red Sox starter Chris Sale threw behind Manny Machado — following a Machado slow, slow, slow home run trot earlier in the game — rekindling the once-thought-dead feud.

Machado was asked about the situation and in language that's best described as colorful, Machado aired his grievances.

Machado's thoughts on being thrown at again and the entire situation:

"What do you think? F—ing bulls—. F—ing bulls— coward stuff. I mean, that's stuff that you don't f—ing do. But I mean, I'm not on that side. I'm not in that organization. They're still thinking about that same slide that I did, that was no intention on hurting anybody. And I'm still paying, I'm still trying to get hit at. Thrown at at my f—ing head. Get f—ing thrown at everywhere. F—ing bulls—. I've lost mad respect for that organization, that coaching staff, for everyone over there.

“If you’re going to f—ing hit me, hit me, go ahead. F—ing hit. Don’t let the s— keep f—ing lingering around and keep trying to f—ing hit people...It’s f—ing bulls—, and MLB should do something about it. F—ing pitchers out there with f—ing balls in their hands throwing 100 miles per hour, trying to hit people. I’ve got a f—ing bat too. I could go up there and crush somebody if I wanted to, but you know what? I’ll get suspended for a year and the pitcher only gets suspended for two games. That’s not cool.”

Barnes was suspended four games for the incident. Chris Sale wasn't suspended. Manny had to have his mouth washed out with soap. (Unconfirmed.)

2018 postseason

Where to even begin?

The NLCS was an eventful one for Manny, to say the least. Machado's Dodgers were in a dogfight with the Brewers in a series that went seven games and wasn't short of drama, quotes, questionable slides and unquestionable lack of hustle.

The most apparent instance: the fourth inning of Game 2, when Machado grounded out to Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia. Arcia took a little extra time getting the ball over to first, which was OK — because Machado took a lot of extra time getting over to first.

Twitter took the airwaves to air out Machado's apparent lack of hustle.

Enter "Johnny Hustle."

Speaking with The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Machado explained his actions, saying this was who he was as a player, angering Twitter GMs everywhere:

"Obviously I'm not going to change. I'm not the type of player that's going to be 'Johnny Hustle' and run down the line and slide to first base and ... you know, whatever can happen. That's just not my personality, that's not my cup of tea, that's not who I am. …

"Should I have run on that pitch? Yeah ... but I didn't and I gotta pay the consequences for it. It does look bad. It looks terrible. I look back at the video and I'm like, 'Whoa, what was I doing?' You know, just the emotions of the game ... I'm the type of player that has stayed in the zone, I'm playing and I'm just in the zone.

"On 3-0, I'm trying to drive one out. I hit a 100 mph groundball (actually 76 mph) right into the shift, right to the shortstop. ... Before I even step out of the box, I look to the shortstop, he has the ball in his hands and I'm like, 'I'm out.' ... I mean, what am I going to do?

"Should I have given it a little more effort? One hundred percent. [It's] my fault like always. I mean, that's just my mentality when I'm in the game. [There are] things that you learn, things that you gotta change. I’ve tried changing it for eight years and I still can't figure it out, but one of these days I will."

RIVERA: Machado says he's not 'Johnny Hustle,' but does it matter?

Simply put, not a good look, but at least Machado provided context into why he's not "Johnny Hustle." 

Then, there was Game 3, in which Machado styled his way to first on a ball that almost made it out. Keyword: Almost. Other keyword: First.

Then, in NLCS Game 4, Machado nearly tripped — a term used loosely — over Jesus Aguilar's foot at first base as he grounded out in the 10th inning

Brewers players weren't crazy about Machado clipping Aguilar, and Milwaukee players let the media — and Machado — know it.

"He has a history of those types of incidents," Christian Yelich said via MLB.com's Joe Trezza. "One time is an accident. Over and over and over again … it's a dirty play. He's a dirty player."

He went on to use Machado-esque language afterward:

With Machado a free agent, it'll be interesting to see how his most recent actions harm his potential new deal — if they do at all. 

Joe Rivera