Dustups between teammates is a common occurrence at all levels of sports on every field, pitch or court. A clubhouse of locker room setting is not like your average workplace. Pro athletes throw their bodies around for a living and even in non-contact sports like baseball, the testosterone (natural not artificially enhanced) gets thrown around when adrenaline is rushing, tempers flare and wild things happen. Usually things cool down and all is forgotten.
However, the confrontation between Dodgers second baseman prospect Alex Guerrero and catcher Miguel Olivio, resulted in an outcome nobody could have forecast. Even though, he decided not to press charges, Guerrero may have a hard time reconciling with Olivio following their fracas on Tuesday.
After arguing over a stolen base in which Guerrero failed to make the tag, Olivio lunged at Guerrero on the field before being restrained by teammates. If that wasn't humiliating enough, the fight later escalated on the bench and a bizarre turn of events resulted in the 35-year-old Olivio taking a chunk of Guerrero's ear with him, forcing Guerrero to undergo plastic surgery.
Even more bizarre is that the ear-biting incident was foreshadowed by none other than Olivio himself during a past interview conducted in Spanish where he disclosed that if he weren't a baseball player, he'd be a boxer. When the reporter followed up by asking which fighter he'd resemble, Olivio responded, "Mike Tyson". The reporter countered by asking, "Without the ear biting right?"
“Yes, without the ear biting.” Olivio replied.
Guerrero may miss five weeks of action, but he’ll fine in the long run. Brett Ratner may not green light this Cuban Dodger’s tale of his arduous path to the majors, but at least he’ll have a story to tell. Why fear the Los Zetas Mexican drug cartel that Puig owes money when Guerrero has Hannibal Catcher in his dugout?
