Don’t Be Surprised If Benches Clear In Yankees Series

February 24, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson (14) reacts after he was hit in the forearm by a pitch during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsWhether you agree with it or not sometimes in baseball, pitchers throw at hitters on purpose.

And sometimes that causes the hitter to charge the mound or scream at the pitcher, causing the benches to clear with a fight starting. Or sometimes the benches just clear but no fight starts.

And there’s reason to think benches may clear and we see some fireworks with the Toronto Blue Jays upcoming series with the Yankees.

For the most part division rivals usually try to avoid causing problems between each other because they have to play each other all season but with this being the last series these 2 teams have with each other this season you can throw that out the window.

But why might we see something go down between these 2 teams you ask.

It all started in spring training.

J.A. Happ hit Curtis Granderson with a pitch and the injury Granderson suffered from that cost him most of the season.

Then Happ hit Robinson Cano with a pitch earlier this season that cost Cano a few games.

Chances are Happ didn’t hit either of them on purpose but that’s never stopped a team from retaliating before. And the Yankees may have just been waiting for their last series with the Jays to retaliate.

And that retaliation might make a Blue Jays pitcher retaliate, assuming the umpires haven’t had to give warnings to both benches yet.

But the Yankees are still playing for their playoff lives so they can’t really afford to give the Blue Jays free base runners. But if a Jays pitcher happens to hit another one of their players or the Yankees have a safe lead they might drill a Blue Jay.

Then there’s also the A-Rod factor.

The fact that he’s been linked to Biogenesis, steroids and he’s A-Rod has got him drilled by a pitcher recently.

And hey A-Rod might be suspended all of next season and the start of 2015 so the Jays wouldn’t even have to worry about any bad blood between him and them because it would be long gone by the time he comes back.

I’d like to think all the Blue Jays starters and relievers have a little more integrity than Ryan Dempster but you never know.

Or maybe they’ll just have a nice civil series. We’ll have to wait and see.

PS. Keep the damn Yankees out of the playoffs!