Victorino Kindly Requests That You Direct Your Complaints at His Midsection, Not His Head

The list of “things you do not do to Shane Victorino on the baseball diamond” continues to grow. It was about three weeks ago that he added “do not use unorthodox pick-off moves against me” to the list when he nearly got into a slap fight with Julian Tavarez. Last night, in a Game 3 loss to L.A., we learned that you may throw at Victorino as you please, so long as it's at his ribcage:
At least, I think Victorino was telling Hiroki Kuroda it’s cool to throw at his ribs, not at his head. But I’m not sure: He only said it 11 freakin’ times. Yes, I counted. I think you made your point, Shane.

You may have also noticed Manny getting a little fiery there. Don’t worry, he wasn’t actually mad. He gots nothin’ but love for everyone, as he made clear after the game:

"We're a team and we need to protect each other. I wasn't trying to get anybody. I was there just in case anything happened. I just wanted to go out there and protect my teammates. I don't fight nobody. I'm a lover."

Ah, right. Certainly Manny was just out there fighting to get to the Phillies so he could whisper sweet nothings into their ears. Hopefully there'll be another dust up tonight (8:22, FOX) and Manny will get a second chance to show is love in a bench-clearing hugfest.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.