Was it immature or at least dangerous for Dodgers relief pitcher Joe Kelly to throw a mid-90s fastball near the head of the Astros Alex Bregman?
Sure. Of course.
Was it justified for him to do it, and to buzz Carlos Correa as well?
Yes, even more so.
Such was the predicament created by Major League Baseball and Commissioner Rob Manfred — it hasn't been his day, his week, his month or even his year — with their absurdly toothless penalties after the Astros were found to have cheated their way to the 2017 World Series title over the Dodgers.
No Houston players were suspended for their roles in the sign-stealing scandal — and no, the damage to their reputations is not close to enough punishment.
And so Kelly made sure we didn't forget, in a season delayed and with many other things rightfully occupying our brain space, that the Astros cheated and didn't pay.
He did it in a crude way. He did it even though he likely knew that there would be consequences for him, even though there weren't any for Astros players — an other layer of absurdity and unfairness.
