view raw text
Harridge Fines S/x yees, Browns for Tiff in St. Louis ■ Courtney Is Held Mainly Responsible for Brawl by Head of American League By ED SAINSBURY ! United Press Sports Writer American League president Will Harridge J fined six New York and St. Louis players a , total of 50 yesterday for their Tuesday ] night fight in St. Louis, and both clubs i immediately complained they were treated unfairly. , Browns catcher Clint Courtney was | treated the roughest, and as Harridge 1 charged, "he was mainly responsible for the ; brawl." He was socked with a 50 fine. Second baseman Billy Martin of the ; Yankees and shortstop Bill Hunter of the Browns were assessed 50 each, and three Yankees, pitcher Allie Reynolds, third base- , man Gil McDougald and first baseman Joe Collins, were fined 00 each. It was believed to be the largest mass | fine in the 5 3 -year history of the league. The Yankees said little, but indicated much of their actions and muttered complaints. "Why should we get fined for trying to protect one of our own players?" was the gist of their objections. "Im here to play baseball, not to fight," Martin snapped. Manager Casey Stengel of the Yankees, obviously incensed by the fines, complained that Harridge took no action about the pop bottles thrown on the field during a 17-minute outburst which delayed completion of the game. "If one of my outfielders or one of the four umpires had been hit by a bottle," he said. "What would he do?" Courtney Mildest of Browns The Browns, though, had plenty to say, but Courtney was the mildest. "I guess they can come in as high as they want at home plate," he said. And he stopped there, for he said to add more would "just prolong the agony." "Last year, Courtney was blamed for throwing the first punch," Browns owner Bill Veeck said. "This year hes jumped by three Yankees and still gets the toughest fine. Im amazed at the reasoning." Manager Marty Marion said "its pretty tough to fine a guy that much for sliding hard. Im sure Courtney only wanted to knock the ball out of Phil Rizzutos hand. If the players are going to get fined for sliding hard youre going to see a lot of weak base running." It was the second time Courtney has been involved in a fight with the Yankees. I Last summer he and Martin tangled in Yankee Stadium and the Browns catcher was fined for the battle. Tuesday all the fireworks were in the tenth inning after the Browns had tied the score. McDougald scored the winning run in the first half of the inning when he barreled into Courtney at home plate and the Browns catcher dropped the ball. Courtney led off the Browns half of the inning with a hit off the outfield wall, and though the ball came to second base before Courtney arrived, He slammed into shortstop Rizzuto and knocked him away from the bag. The Yankees swarmed on him and a free-for-all broke out. Fans threw cushions and bottles onto the field for 17 minutes, ignoring pleas for order from umpire Bill Summers until Marion asked them for quiet. Harridge said that Courtney "violated all the rules of sportsmanship by going extremely high into Phil Rizzuto at second base." "Hunter had no business on the field at the time and he went out of his way to fight with Martin," Harridge went on, "continuing the fight after some semblance of order had been restored. Martin, while he had a right to be on the field, shared equal blame with Hunter for continuing the brawl when it appeared it might be ■ over. "While undoubtedly other players were I involved, umpire reports all indicate that ; Reynolds, Collins and McDougald, by their ■ impulsive action, must share some of the I ; responsibility for the outbreak. 1 "While there has been much comment I 1 about the previous play in the first half of * the tenth inning in which catcher Court- . - ney dropped the ball as McDougald scored I - standing up, the plate umpires report is . definite that these two players had no - altercation or exchange of words over this , incident."
