Billy Butler Has Been Out Of The A's Lineup Because He Was Injured In A Fight With Teammate Danny Valencia
First thing’s first, let’s get to the important issue here. Billy Butler’s nickname is Country Breakfast. I don’t think that’s talked about enough, and that’s not okay. Top 10 nickname in the game.
The second point I’d like to make here is that the A’s are an absolute shitshow. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Billy Butler got beat up by Danny Valencia, and that’s why he hasn’t been in Oakland’s lineup since last Wednesday. The A’s are 19.5 games out of first place, Coco Crisp is pissed off at the organization for benching him so that his option for next year can’t kick in, and now the players are beating the shit out of each other in the clubhouse.
Billy Butler missed the last two games against the White Sox because he was injured in an altercation with teammate Danny Valencia, The Chronicle has learned.
No one in the Oakland clubhouse would discuss the matter on the record, but no one denied that it occurred, either.
“No comment,” Valencia said Sunday after the team’s 4-2 loss to the White Sox. “What happens in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse.”
Manager Bob Melvin would not comment on the incident, which occurred Friday night, according to sources. Melvin said Saturday only that Butler was out with nausea and vomiting, but he specifically ruled out the flu when asked if that was Butler’s ailment.
Nausea and vomiting typically are among the symptoms of concussions.
According to two sources, the dispute in the clubhouse began when Butler informed an equipment representative that Valencia had not, in fact, been wearing the spikes that Valencia had told the representative that he was using.
Butler and Valencia were teammates with Kansas City in 2014 as well as the second half of last year and this year in Oakland, and they are known to engage in a great deal of loud banter in the clubhouse and on the field.
Yo, we’re fighting each other over CLEATS? The fuck is that? This is how I picture the A’s clubhouse now that this story is out there.
Speaking of Coco Crisp, by the way, it’s interesting to note that he had Valencia’s back here, as did Eric Hosmer and Yonder Alonso, after the news of this altercation started to make the rounds.
What’s the common thread here? All three of those players have been teammates with both Valencia and Butler, only nobody’s talking about how great of a teammate Butler is when he’s the one who ended up getting hurt. Hm.