FanHouse JoshTowers

The Yankees and Blue Jays got into a bit of a bean ball war earlier in the week, and Roger Clemens and Joe Torre are the ones who will pay the price: Clemens got nailed for five days while Torre will be forced to miss one.

I'm sure this isn't going to go over that well amongst Yankee fans, but it had to have been expected. Tempers flared after the Blue Jays threw behind Alex Rodriguez in Monday's game, so much so that my FanHouse colleague Red literally predicted some more extra-curricular activities would happen later in the series. Lo and behold, after Rodriguez was plunked on the calf in Tuesday's game, Clemens retaliated by hitting Alex Rios square in the back, earning an immediate ejection for both him and his skipper.

If Clemens was merely retaliating, shouldn't at least one of the Jays been suspended, as well? Maybe in a perfect world, but they managed to just barely stay on the good graces of the umpires, which makes all the difference in the world when commissioner's office starts doling out punishment.

Something to take into consideration is that this is probably the most expensive bean ball of Clemens' career -- not being paid for five days is almost like taking one million dollars out of his bank account. Granted, I'm not sure Clemens even balances his checkbook to within six digits, but still, I'm guessing his accountant will see the missing dough.

Update: three Blue Jays were fined, but not suspended: Josh Towers, Matt Stairs and third-base coach Brian Butterfield.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

San Francisco Giants (48-62) vs. Washington Nationals (51-61)-ESPN2 10:15PM Est.

It may be a bit unfair of me to demand that Barry Bonds hits a home run tonight so that we can all move on with our lives, but I don't care. I'm sick of waiting. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's anything more exciting than watching two bad baseball teams play each other, but I have my limits. Tonight Barry will be facing Mike Bacsik, yes, that Mike Bacsik. It's a reunion five years in the making as Bonds has only had three at bats in his career against Bacsik and they all took place back in 2002 when Bacsik was with the Mets. In those three at bats Bonds was held hitless, and was hit by a pitch. That means he's due. Please, Barry, hit the home run tonight. Round the bases in front of all your fans. Hug your son at home plate. High five your teammates. Kiss your wife and daughters. Hell, sacrifice a virgin at home plate. Just hit the damn home run.

The way the Blue Jays' season has been rolling, it seemed only a matter of time until someone cornered a reporter and let the anger flow. Last night, that person was pitcher Josh Towers.

Upset after he was removed from the game in the sixth, a game the Jays eventually dropped to the White Sox, Towers stormed out of U.S. Cellular Field -- literally -- stopping only to vent about his team's troubled season.

"We just gave the game away. Personally, that's what I think," Towers said. "Today was just a game that I felt we were in complete control of and we should've won and we didn't. All around, it just wasn't a great game played by us.

"I just don't think that we consistently put ourselves in positions to make plays ahead of time," he continued. "I don't think we were heads up. I don't think we consistently show up as a coaching staff and as a team every day, and I think it shows sometimes."

"I expect a better effort every day. We were in full control of the game, I thought, and I think that we handed it back right to them -- and to me it was embarrassing."

Jays Manager John Gibbons, not surprisingly, took exception.

"Did it look to you guys like it was a lack of effort?" Gibbons asked reporters. "You've been watching us all year. It's the same team. Does it look like a lack of effort? I didn't see that."

Towers' name has surfaced in trade rumors involving the Philadeliphia Phillies. With this outburst, the pitcher may have made the Jays less inclined to keep him around, especially if they get something more than a bag of doughnuts in exchange.

Anyone who was afraid that the Blue Jays might trade Josh Towers for a bag of doughnuts can relax. Because Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi has gone on the record as saying that he won't do such a thing.

See, check it out:

"I'm not going to trade Josh Towers for a bag of doughnuts, I've got to get something back that is a very good player for us to say, 'Hey, we can hang our hat on this guy.'"

They also won't be trading him to Pittsburgh for shortstop Jack Wilson, or so Ricciardi says, shooting down a popular rumor.

"We have absolutely no interest in Jack Wilson," said Ricciardi. "None."

These and other recent comments by Ricciardi indicate he'd prefer to see how the Jays' lineup plays when no one is injured before making any changes. That means he may well stand pat at the trade deadline and see what a healthy team can accomplish in 2008.

"We want to finish as best we can, we're under 10 in the wild card, it's not insurmountable. Obviously you've got teams in front of you but maybe we can cut that down. But more importantly we want to see what our team looks like when it is together."