Prince Fielder became a 21st century baseball villain Wednesday.
He was booed when introduced for each of his five hitless at-bats in the Milwaukee Brewers' 4-1 victory over the Dodgers. The fans at Dodger Stadium cheered whenever he missed a pitch. They snickered when the bulky All-Star made an awkward head-first slide stealing second base in the third inning.
Fielder's crime?
He tried to charge into the Dodgers' clubhouse the previous night to look for Guillermo Mota, who hit him in the thigh in retaliation for an earlier pitch by Milwaukee Brewers reliever Chris Smith that hit Manny Ramirez.
"I'm a little surprised and disappointed that this is taking all the attention," Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said.
The disappointment was understandable. The surprise, not as much.
Videos of Fielder shouting obscenities and being restrained by teammates outside the Dodgers' clubhouse were posted on the Internet and replayed over and over by ESPN. Something that would have taken place out of public sight decades ago was available for everyone to see.
That drew The Circus back to Dodger Stadium, only this time the questions about steroids, suspensions and dreadlocks were replaced by inquiries about protecting hitters.
Torre, who had admittedly grown tired of being asked about Ramirez's alleged drug use in recent weeks, didn't seem to appreciate the line of questioning.
"Do you want to talk about this, Scott?" he called out to traveling secretary Scott Akasaki, who was standing nearby when Torre met with reporters.
Torre and Milwaukee Manager Ken Macha wouldn't say how they expected Mota and Fielder to be disciplined, if at all. League spokesman Pat Courtney said Bob Watson, baseball's chief disciplinarian, was investigating the incident.
In the hours leading up to the game, Torre said the umpires hadn't issued any warnings and sarcastically added, "I'll send you a wire up in the press box."
If he did, the message never got there. The wireless network in the press box was down for the most of the game.
Torre said after the game that the teams were never warned. Turns out it wasn't necessary. The only player hit by a pitch was Brewers shortstop Craig Counsell -- and he was hit by a 71-mph curveball from Jason Schmidt with the bases loaded in the fourth inning.
Mota was light-hearted when recalling the incidents of Tuesday night.
