According to Martin, the spat began in the second inning after he and Diaz argued over the strike zone. Instead of being ejected from the game, Martin says Diaz found an unconventional way to punish him: not allowing him to throw the ball back to the pitcher after a foul ball. For this, Martin says Diaz "is a d**k. Write it hard."Martin's account of the incident said it began with Diaz saying "that it was a privilege that I had to earn, for me to throw the ball back." Martin went on to say, "that's never happened to me before. I even told him, because there's guys on base, I like to keep my arm loose. Nope. 'I'm not letting you throw the ball back.' That's pretty strange, to me. That's a good story, huh?"
Martin went on to state that this continued into the latter portion of the game, even after getting hit in the neck. After getting hit in the neck, Martin said he told Diaz: "I'm like, 'can I throw the ball back now?' He's like still, no. I'm like, 'you're such a d**k. You're a d**k, dude. Like, for real. Unbelievable.'"
Martin said, "Now, thinking back, I should have shown him the gold Rawlings sign on my glove." Martin won the gold glove in 2007 as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, Martin did not say he should have shown him his batting average, which is currently at .187.
It is unknown how seriously the league is looking at the incident, but may include review of video and interviews with those involved. As for Martin, he says that Diaz "can hold a grudge with the best of them."
Interestingly enough, Martin walked in his first at bat in the 3rd inning (after the spat began). In fact, Martin was given a ball on the first pitch of his at bat that was within the bounds of the strike zone. In the 7th inning, Martin took a 1-1 pitch that was within the bounds of the strike zone, called for a ball. So Martin was the beneficiary of two missed pitches by Diaz, and was not at the short end of a called pitch. Pitch f/x showed that Diaz called seven pitches from Yankees pitchers that were in the bounds of the strike zone balls, while four for the Angels pitchers (statistically insignificant). Whatever argument that may have occurred, it clearly did not translate to any calls being made against the Yankees and Martin. The video, however, shows while Martin was throwing the ball back to the pitcher at the beginning of the game, Diaz was constantly throwing the ball to the pitcher later in the game after foul balls and balls in the dirt (even while Martin had his glove out for a ball).
News: Russell Martin says he had odd run-in
