Sports Redux: Headhunter

Ladies and gentlemen, may we present to you this week's nominee for Douchebag on the Diamond: Daniel Cabrera.

Cabrera, 26, is a Gemini who throws and bats righty. He enjoys roaming about Camden Yards and, oh wait, headhunting. Or so it seems, at least, considering the fact that he fired a shot at Dustin Pedroia's head on Friday night during a Red Sox-Orioles matchup down in Fenway South Camden.

The fact that the Sox, who haven't been much in the mood to brawl this season, were ready to engage in some bench-clearing action on Friday is a sign that Cabrera was out of his mind on Friday night. Sure, the guy was ticked off: Coco Crisp (on third base) had just messed with his head during the fourth inning and drew a balk that resulted in a run scored. The Orioles were in position to lose their 11th straight game. Baltimore was, as has become customary, saturated with Sox fans hoping to see the visiting team defeat the hometown guys. It wasn't the best position for a MLB pitcher to find himself.

But throwing it at someone's head, especially lil' Dustin Pedroia? Come on. That's not good for the game and the resulting tension only ends with someone getting kicked out of the game. In Friday night's case, that meant Cabrera hit the locker room and the Sox went on to win, 4-0.

We'll let Crisp sum it up, as he did nicely in post-game interviews: "I was kind of looking at him like, 'What are you doing, man?' He's one of the hardest throwers in the league. Even though you lose your cool right there, you still can't try and hit somebody in the head, you know what I'm saying? You could kill somebody, man. A lot of people are going to be hurt. It goes beyond being embarrassed or whatever happened during the game."

Keeping it calm and collected, however, was Boston's Jon Lester, who kept the Orioles scoreless through seven, giving up only four hits. See, Cabrera? This is how it's done (and this is why we're at the top of the standings, just sayin').

-- The Pats kick off the season tomorrow! Asante Samuels still doesn't know about whether he's going to start, even play, but it's gonna be awesome!

-- Speaking of football, what's going to happen when Tom O'Brien faces down BC football from the North Carolina State sidelines? Everyone has been anticipating the return of former Eagle Coach O'Brien...we're expecting some boos, but we're hoping for cheers, given the manner in which he resurrected the Boston College program and helmed it for a decade. Be classy, Eagles...and then kick some Wolfpack butt.

Photo of Daniel Cabrera (from last season, but hey) by Flickr user Larry Coor.